Atari Inc, a leading publisher and developer of videogames today announced that they have licensed the rights to Epic's Unreal Engine 3 set of tools to be used for games on PlayStation 3 and Xbox360. Atari has become a household name as it's been around the industry for years and contributed a lot for gaming. Epic Games is a leading developer and publisher behind popular franchises such as Unreal and Unreal Tournament.

In the joint press statement released today from both companies. Atari's Senior VP, Jean Marcel Nicolai said," We're excited to continue building our relationship with Epic Games and we look forward to tapping the potential of Unreal Engine 3 technology. By utilizing the Unreal Engine 3, Atari will gain rapid prototyping capabilities."

A very happy Mark Rein from Epic Games had this to add about Atari's license of Unreal Engine 3, " We've had a long-standing licensing and publishing relationship with Atari and it is especially gratifying to me to see our technology partnership continue. We're confident that Atari will make several great games with our technology and look forward to working with the company and its developers in achieving that goal."

Developers at Atari are currently busy developing several titles for next-generation consoles. These range from survival horror games to fast paced first person shooters. Titles confirmed to be in development for PS3 console are Alone in the Dark sequel, a new Driver title, Spark Unlimited (tentative title) and a next-generation Stuntman. It will be interesting to see what new titles will be announced after Atari's acquisition of Unreal middleware.