
Epic games is offering the Unreal Development Kit (UDK) for free download to anyone who wishes to develop games or game mods. This is exciting news to any game design student, indie developer and anyone wanting to build things requiring a game development engine. UDK is the Unreal Engine 3 (UE3). Prior to this, anyone wanting to use the engine needed to buy Unreal Tournament 3 or buy the engine. With changes in licensing agreements, Epic is able to offer this to a wider audience in an instant download.
This is important news for fledgling game developers and students because a game mod or level design is often a portfolio requirement for hire. This puts the ability to prove your abilities in the hands of anyone wanting to get into the game industry. In addition, it provides artistic opportunities to the general public.
Unreal Engine 3 has been used to create many great games, such as: Alpha Protocol, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Bioshock, Gears of War, Mass Effect, Unreal Tournament 3, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, among many others. For a full list of games, visit the Wikipedia page. Now, the ability to create great games is in the hands of everyone.
For the free download, visit the official website. For a glimpse of just what this engine can do see the Whizzle Showcase. Epic games offers more than just a taste of what UDK can do, it offers development diaries and documentation to get people started on working with UDK. So, get started!