Xbox Addict

Electronic Arts Signs Deal to Use Unity Engine

Electronic Arts has used the third-party middleware Unity engine before, namely in Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online. It must have worked out well for both sides, as EA and Unity Technologies announced a multi-year agreement earlier this week. The Unity engine will be used in "multiple franchises and genres," according to the press release.
"We have spent a lot of years looking at development assets of all kinds. Unity represents one of the deepest commitments we have ever made. It lets us produce products to our quality expectations, while freeing our creative contributors to explore new ideas, without breaking the bank," said Electronic Arts VP Chief Creative Director, Richard Hilleman. "Unity’s unparalleled platform support ensures that when we have something we want to share with our players, we can reach them quickly on the platforms they have. We look forward to continuing collaboration with our friends at Unity Technologies on future innovations and the new experiences we will create for our players."

One of the benefits of the Unity engine is its ability to produce content for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PC, Mac, the web, iPhone, iPad, and Android. That could potentially be incredibly useful for a company like EA that likes to release some of its titles on as many platforms as possible.

Although Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online is the only game we’ve seen released to date where EA has used Unity, the press release notes that "a number of other titles are in development," so it looks like there should be plenty more before long. Unity has been used in a long list of non-EA games, including Max and the Magic Marker on WiiWare.