Epic Games announced that they are acquiring RAD Game Tools.
The middleware makers may not be that famous on their own, but you might have seen their handiworks in various video games (close to 25,000 according the announcement).
Tools such as Bink Video and Ooodle, which logos appear in video game starts screens, are some of RAD Game Tools’ handiwork.
The acquisition will see many of RAD’s rad tech to be integrated with the Unreal Engine. This partnership is expected to result in better load times and faster downloads for video games running on Unreal.
RAD will continue to sell licenses for their products for use outside of the Unreal Engine. So other games (and also other industries like film and television) can still make use of the middleware. The acquisition will not make them Epic-exclusives.