DICE 2008 sees fierce debate on engine licensing

It’s been a common practice in the video game industry for developers to license game engine technology to avoid having to build the foundations of games, saving time and money in the process. However, some of the industry’s best game makers see this as a bad practice, fueling a debate in DICE 2008. Find out who are for it and who are against it, and which side AAA titles like Resistance: Fall of Ma, Ratchet & Clank, BioShock, and Mass Effect fall into when you read the full article ahead.

DICE Summit 08 is up and running in Las Vegas, hosting some of the most prominent names in game development under one big roof. One of the most interesting topics discussed in the gathering was that of game engine licensing and how much sense it makes.

The house was equally divided in the debate with acclaimed personalities speaking their minds for each side. Among those who disfavor game engine licensing was Insomniac Games‘ engine director Mike Acton.

Acton commented that the notion of saving time and money on engine licensing is “a complete crock of sh*t and is almost never true.” He then implicated the case of such game makers as Vivendi, Midway, and Silicon Knights as prime examples of companies who had trouble when they licensed Unreal Engine 3 by Epic Games (remember the Too Human debacle?).

“Yes, it costs to make your own engine. You need a strong team and smart people,” Acton adds. “You need to invest into it. Â… The bottom line for me, really, is you invest internally.”

Insomniac has clearly benefitted from its in-house engine policies, producing such  Grade-A titles as Resistance: Fall of Man and the Ratchet & Clank series. The company is dedicated to the practice, and sees the value in making big investments on its own game engines.

For its part, Epic Games responded through its President Mike Capps, who said that engine licensing has benefits all its own. Capps argued on the lines of licensed engines being more cost efficient, battle-tested, stable, and rich in features.

“ItÂ’s a simple straightforward argument,” he responds. “If you donÂ’t have your own engine, it makes sense to license an engine for cost savings.”

Those who have had success with licensed engines see the value of being able to focus more on the gameplay of their projects over the technology aspect. Just ask 2K Boston and BioWare who have had phenomenal success with Unreal Engine 3, coming up with such greats as BioShock and Mass Effect respectively.

In the end, the affirmative and the negative side of this debate agreed to disagree on the subject. Post your comments below to fill us in on what you think.

Via Next-Gen