‘Project Draco’ Harnesses the Unreal Engine to Put Kinect Gamers on Dragonback
TOKYO and CARY, N.C. (October 20, 2011) – Grounding Inc. announces the studio has licensed Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3 for its upcoming game, “Project Draco” (tentative title). First exhibited at Tokyo Game Show in 2011 and scheduled for release in 2012 by Microsoft Studios on Xbox LIVE Arcade, “Project Draco” is a 3D action game that takes players into the sky on the wings of a dragon, battling a legion of enemies through the power of Microsoft Kinect. The award-winning power of Unreal Engine 3 breathes realistic life into the beautiful scenery and fantasy world of “Project Draco.”
“Because this is Grounding’s first high-definition game, we looked at many technology options and picked Unreal Engine 3 as the best solution,” said Yukio Futatsugi, director at Grounding. “We began development in September 2010 when Microsoft first announced the title. While our team size is only 15 people and we had merely one year from the start of the project, the productive tools and efficient processes of Unreal Engine 3 meant we could come up with a high-quality playable demo in a very short time.”
Futatsugi added, “While none of our team had experience with the Unreal Engine before, the devoted support of Epic Games Japan ensured a very smooth development process. We feel like there’s an invisible teammate named ‘Unreal’ sitting with us. With crunch time coming up, it’s reassuring to have such a dependable partner on our side.”
“Unreal Engine 3 is usually seen as a solution for a big team working on a large-budget title, especially in Japan,” said Taka Kawasaki, territory manager of Epic Games Japan. “‘Project Draco’ provides a great example of how smaller studios can still fully enjoy the power of Unreal Engine 3. It has been especially impressive to see Grounding harness the capability of Unreal Kismet, our visual scripting system, to design complex, intertwined flight paths for playable dragons and enemies in three-dimensional space. Mr. Futatsugi has always delivered cool games with very unique settings and gameplay design, such as ‘Panzer Dragoon’ and ‘Phantom Dust,’ and I can’t wait to see the new world he brings to life with Unreal Engine 3.”
About Unreal Engine 3
Developed by Epic Games, the award-winning Unreal Engine is known for its cutting-edge graphics, best-of-breed tools and scalability across multiple platforms. Unreal Engine 3’s highly mature toolset and content pipeline consistently evolve along with its advanced mobile features, multi-core processor support, optimizations for numerous platforms and massive world support. Unreal Engine 3 is designed to accelerate developers’ productivity for computer and video games, mobile games and applications, training simulations, 3D visualizations, digital films and animated entertainment. Integrated with two dozen leading middleware technologies, Unreal Engine 3 holds more than 20 technology awards, including seven Game Developer Front Line Awards and four Develop Industry Excellence Awards. Additional information on Unreal Engine 3 can be obtained at http://www.unrealengine.com.
About Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., based in Cary, NC and established in 1991, develops cutting-edge games and cross-platform game engine technology. The company has created multiple million-selling, award-winning titles in its “Unreal” series, including “Unreal Tournament 3” for PC, PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360®. The first two games in Epic’s “Gears of War” franchise have sold more than 13 million copies and won more than 50 game of the year awards. The third installment, “Gears of War 3,” sold more than 3 million copies within its first week of release, catapulting the franchise beyond $1 billion in lifetime sales. Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 holds more than 20 industry technology awards and powers many bestselling games. Additional information about Epic can be obtained at http://www.epicgames.com.
About Grounding Inc.
Grounding is a Japanese developer located in Tokyo, founded in 2006 by Mineko Okamura (“Space Channel 5,” “Rez”) as CEO and Yukio Futatsugi (“Panzer Dragoon,” “Phantom Dust”) as CKO. They have worked on high-quality downloadable titles, such as “PictureBook Games: Pop-up Pursuit!,” “PictureBook Games: The Royal Bluff” for Wii and “Hot Keys” for iOS. Additional information about Grounding can be obtained at http://www.g-rounding.com/en/.
Epic, Epic Games, Unreal Engine, Unreal Kismet and UE3 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.