Epic Games has acquired the technology and business of RAD Game Tools, according to a post made on the official Epic Games site. RAD Game Tools is a video game software development company. According to the post, its “products and technology appear in close to 25,000 games and are leveraged by the world’s leading gaming companies, including Epic.”
Epic Games is the owner of both the Epic Games Store and the Unreal Engine, a powerful and popular game development tool. The statement further reads, “Epic and RAD plan to integrate RAD’s powerful technology into Unreal Engine to benefit the developer community and gamers alike.”
Epic Games has used RAD’s technology before, specifically the compression technology. This has allowed the developer to improve the load time of Fortnite, which is currently one of the most popular games in the world. The post further explains that as games become more “photorealistic and powerful, developers need best-in-class compression software that can manage increased data requirements without compromising quality.”
In short, the plan is for RAD’s team and technology to work with the rendering, animation, insights, and audio teams for Unreal Engine to improve the systems and infrastructure that game developers use. While Epic now owns RAD, RAD will continue its existing work with game industry, television, and film partners, including those who do not use Unreal Engine in their work.
This isn’t the only big move Epic Games has made recently. Fortnite’s developer and publisher recently purchased a mall with almost a million square feet of space to serve as the company’s global HQ.
