Unreal Engine's status as a middleware tool for mobile continues to fortify following the news Gameloft is to employ the engine in key releases over the next two years.

The French publisher has signed a long-term multi-platform licensing agreement that will result in four new games powered by Unreal Engine 3.0 hitting iOS, Android, PlayStation Network and set-top boxes between now and the end of 2012.

Unreal support

"Gameloft is very pleased to partner with Epic, especially with their ability to stay ahead of the curve and continually place the best game engine technology in developers' hands at any given point in time," said VP of production at Gameloft, Julien Fournials.

The publisher claims the first two games are currently due to launch at some point later this year, helping Gameloft push the bar on multiple formats.

"Using Unreal Engine 3 allows us to push game visuals with remarkable lighting and high-fidelity environments."

Portable power

Epic's engine has been making great strides in the portable space of late.

Having only launched on iOS back in December, the firm recently raised the platform's revenue share ceiling for independent developers to $50,000, enabling smaller studios to employ the tech.

Epic also unveiled support for Sony's forthcoming NGP – better known as PSP2 – earlier in February.

"There is no doubt that the four games running on Unreal Engine 3 will be visually stunning and take advantage of the powerful mobile gaming devices," added Epic VP Mark Rein.

"We are thrilled to provide our technology to Gameloft and look forward to a lasting collaboration."