Unreal Engine 4 has announced today it will feature built-in support for a variety of middleware technologies including the Virtual Reality headset the Oculus Rift and Nvidia’s PhysX software.
Middleware is computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. Middleware can be described as “software glue.”
Both technologies are part of Unreal Engine 4‘s Integrated Partners Program, a suite of middleware tools directly integrated into the scalable next-generation engine. This follows in line with a similar initiative Unreal formed for Unreal Engine 2 and Unreal Engine 3. Here is a statement from Tim Sweeney, Epic Games’ founder and technical director, released today in a press release.
The new Integrated Partners Program helps Unreal Engine 4 developers maximize their time with the most advanced toolset we’ve ever developed. We have taken the time to integrate UE4 with the best middleware technologies so our licensees can stay focused on making great games.”
The company behind the Oculus Rift posted a memorial blog for Andrew Reisse, who was killed at 33 during a police chase last week. Reisse was a founding member of the Oculus VR headset who led the development of Unreal Engine integration for the Oculus Rift. Other companies that were involved with the integrated partners for Unreal Engine 4 include the following list below.
- Audiokinetic – Wwise
- Autodesk – Autodesk Gameware
- Donya Labs – Simplygon
- Geomerics – Enlighten
- IDV – SpeedTree for Games
- Intel – Intel Threading Building Blocks (TBB)
- NaturalMotion – Morpheme and Euphoria
- Nvidia – PhysX and APEX
- Oculus VR – Oculus Rift
- RAD Game Tools – Bink Video and Telemetry Performance Visualizer
- RealD – RealD Developer Kit (RDK)
- Umbra Software – Umbra 3
- Xoreax – IncrediBuild-XGE
