Epic and GameSpy (owned by IGN) today announced a deal where GameSpy’s multiplayer technology will be incorporated into Unreal Engine 3. The deal affects PS3 to PC cross-platform play. Other features being included in the engine are communication tools, competition apps, matchmaking, stat tools, community features, leaderboards, and unannounced new features that may turn up down the line.

The kicker is that GameSpy says this could work for brining cross platform play in a single game to the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. How cool would that be?

GameSpy has the technology to actually connect gamers across virtually any platform for multiplayer play, even Xbox 360 to PS3 to PC. “We’re huge believers in cross-platform play,” said [Todd] Northcutt [GameSpy Technologies Director]. But he said it’s ultimately up to Microsoft and other game companies to realize the dream of total cross-platform gameplay.

I have a tingling feeling that Microsoft will want no part of this. They have their own Games for Windows Live stuff for cross platform play. Hang this one up there with your dream of the next Duke Nukem game dropping this decade.