Valve Software announced yesterday that the Source Engine would be available to Xbox 360 developers.
The graphics engine created for Half-Life 2, and employed by the makers of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, both for the PC, is now available for Xbox 360 developers according to a brief statement released by Valve yesterday.
“The combination of Source and the Xbox 360 provides game designers throughout the industry the chance to create powerful entertainment experiences,” said Valve co-founder Gabe Newell.
Valve, which has been unusually successful among developers in sustaining its own independence, expands upon its existing licensing opportunities with the Source Engine on the PC. Claiming that the engine is flexible enough to support a variety of gametypes beyond the FPS, Source has been used to various degrees of success by a number of developers. Most notably featuring high-dynamic range rendering and complex facial expressions, the Source engine is still hounded by reports of stuttering on a fraction of widely varied systems.
Half-Life 2 is expected to be released on the Xbox 360 in early ’07.
Source: Next Generation
