Gaming on Windows 8 tablets (and the platform as a whole) just got a whole lot cooler with a demonstration of the Unreal Engine 3 running on an ASUS Windows RT tablet. Powered by NVIDIA's Tegra, the tablet was shown today running the engine flagship demo Epic Citadel at IFA Berlin.
NVIDIA quickly ran through the demo at the ASUS Vivo Tab RT press conference, which was the first public showing of an Unreal Engine 3 app (or game) on the Windows RT platform. As well as Windows 8 (and Pro), the engine has been optimised for Windows RT devices to ensure consumers have a wide choice of available titles from the Windows Store.
The joint effort by NVIDIA and Epic (the company behind the Unreal Engine 3) made porting the engine to Windows 8 and RT possible, which was made available to developers last week. Operating on 9 platforms, with more than 20 integrated technologies and licensed for more than 225 titles, the Unreal Engine 3 is certainly more than welcome on the new Windows.
Microsoft has the three-screen vision in mind, and the porting of the Unreal Engine 3 will ensure developers can easily launch titles on Windows 8, whether they are already established on the PC or Xbox. Integrating the Xbox Live service into games on Windows 8 would unleash a new way of gaming for PC users.
Mark Rein, Vice President of Epic Games, had the following to add:
"The Unreal Engine 3-powered ‘Epic Citadel’ demonstration for Windows RT tablets implements the full DirectX 9 pipeline, with shaders and materials, all running beautifully on Tegra 3. By porting the full engine as opposed to a modified mobile version, NVIDIA and Epic have made it easy for UE3 developers around the world to bring their best content to Windows RT, Windows 8 and NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 processor. Windows RT code is available to licensees from Epic now and we’re excited to see the great games they develop with it."
Check out the Epic Citadel demonstration in the video below, running on an ASUS Windows RT tablet.
While all is good and dandy in the garden of Windows 8 and Windows RT, we're yet to see progress being made on the Windows Phone front to get the Unreal Engine 3 to consumers on Microsoft's mobile platform. Epic previously skipped Windows Phone due to the "closed environment" present, but with Windows Phone 8 around the corner, perhaps we'll see an opening for the studio to port the engine.
In fact, we've heard from our sources that Unreal has been involved in attending some meetings with Microsoft in this regard, so take that as you will.
Source: NVIDIA
Rich Edmonds is a word conjurer at Windows Central, covering everything related to Windows, gaming, and hardware. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a device chassis. You can follow him over on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.
