The Unreal Engine 3 has been at the heart of several of the biggest games of the last few years. Titles include Gears of War, Bioshock, and Borderlands. Now Epic Games is announcing the release of a free non-commercial version of the Unreal Development Kit, powered by Unreal 3.

The dev kit is available for download right this very minute at the official site. This isn’t some stripped down version of the engine either. According to Epic, “UDK contains all the most recently added features and technological enhancements, including many that have yet to be seen in an Unreal Engine game. Furthermore, Epic Games will release ongoing, upgraded builds of UDK for free.”

The UDK can be used to create mods for existing games, as well as standalone products. San Diego based Psyonix Studios used the UDK to create a proof of concept game in two months with only two individuals. The game is called Whizzle, and it’s actually pretty neat for what is essentially a tech demo. It’s always nice to see companies giving something away for free.