Korea creates cross-platform game engine

For game developers, one of the stickiest tasks has always been porting their creations to new devices. If they built a game for PCs, it would usually be a major ordeal to get it running on PlayStation 2s, for example.

Well, according to Associated Press reports, if the South Koreans have anything to say about this, that dynamic could soon be a distant memory. That's because the country's Ministry of Information and Communication has unveiled a cross-platform game engine called, appropriately enough, the "cross-platform game engine." How's that for ingenuity in naming?

In any case, the ministry said its new software brainchild could allow game designers to easily forge compatibility between all manner of devices, including PCs, game consoles, mobile phones and PDAs and more.

The AP said that the genesis of the software was a desire to move South Korea's video game industry beyond its core platform, PCs. And if it works, the cross-platform game engine could bring almost $150 million in new revenue into the country's coffers.

So, if you're a game developer and you've struggled with this dynamic in the past, maybe your salvation is coming. No word yet, though, on whether the software works on both PCs and Macs.