There was something strange going on on Epic's website yesterday. An image labeled "It's Unreal and it's almost here." was reportedly posted briefly, and then taken down, along with threads about what it could mean. According to Joystiq's unnamed source, Epic plans to release the Unreal Engine 3 to consumers.

 From Joystiq:

Our mole tells us that the toolset will ship with example objects, like weapons and maps, and will show users how to build their own custom assets. Odds are, the kit being a product for consumers (read: nonprofessionals), that the cost won't be all that high.

So fans and/or regular people may soon have access to the Unreal Engine 3... can you imagine the flood of crappy games? But, more importantly, can you imagine the diamonds in the rough that will eventually surface, when creative people with less-than-million-dollar ideas are able to use the Unreal Engine? I, for one, can't wait.

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