38 Studios announced today that it has licensed Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 middleware for use in the development of its upcoming MMO project.

The studio, founded by Boston Red Sox pitcher and avid MMO fan Curt Schilling, is currently developing the title with the help of Spawn creator Todd McFarlane and fantasy author R. A. Salvatore. The game is expected to ship in 2010.

Few details have been released concerning the game, but 38 Studios has noted that the MMO is part of a greater project based around a single original intellectual property, which is said to encompass multiple media forms beyond the MMO.

38 Studios also recently announced that it had licensed the BigWorld Technology Suite for the game's backend, server-side capabilities. Other licensees of the middleware include John Romero's studio Slipgate Ironworks and Lunar creator Game Arts.

TenTonHammer has posted an interview with part of the 38 Studios management team, asking them how the MMO studio founded by Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling operates.

According to this story on FiringSquad, Green Monster Games is changing names. The game developer, founded by Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, will now be called 38 Studios (the 38 representing Schilling's jersey number).