Epic Games’ Unreal Development Kit (UDK), a free software release that provides access to the Unreal Engine 3 toolset for educational and non-commercial use, has exceeded 50,000 users worldwide since launching on November 5.
The UDK contains all of the most recently added Unreal features and enhancements, which are detailed here, and Epic has said that it will release ongoing, upgraded builds for free.
Previously, non-commercial access to the Unreal Engine 3 toolset had been available only through the PC versions of games such as Unreal Tournament 3 and the Gears Of War series.
"We are very excited to see the uptake of UDK cross over the 50,000 mark in only one week, and we're looking forward to seeing amazing games and applications come out of it," said Epic vice president Mark Rein. "We're also thrilled to finally be able to offer UDK free for schools and students so they can work with the same awesome Unreal Engine 3 tools used by many of the top game developers and publishers around the world."