BizSpots: Chair/Epic, GDCC, EA, GameTap

Chair permanently sitting on Unreal Engine 3
In April, Chair Entertainment announced it had licensed Epic's Unreal Engine for its upcoming Xbox Live online multiplayer shooter Undertow. Apparently, the developer likes what it's seeing. Today, Chair announced a deal with Epic Games to use the Unreal Engine in all of its current and future development projects on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Along with the announcement, Chair released the first screens of Undertow, the first game in its upcoming lineup to use Epic's engine. Slated for release this fall, Undertow features a 15-level single-player campaign and two multiplayer modes that accommodate up to 16 players.

GDC China speaker list cinched
Registration for the Game Developers Conference China begins today, and speakers for the event have been announced. Appearing on the docket at this year's event will be David Perry, CEO of Gameconsultants.com, who will headline the conference's online game development and business portion; Paul Steed, CCO of Exigent, who will speak on outsourcing and next-generation games; Petri Talala, vice president of mobile business for Futuremark, who will address mobile games; and Bob Zhu, HR director for EA's Asia branch, who will speak on career and recruitment. Jointly produced by CMP Technology and the International Data Group, GDC China is slated to run from August 27-29 at the Shanghai International Convention Center.

Lee to remain as Riccitiello's consigliere
In the aftermath of Electronic Arts' massive reorganization, it was revealed that reappointed CEO John Riccitiello would be the go-to officer for all newly appointed presidents of their respective recently created labels. In flux, however, was the status of Paul Lee, EA's former president of worldwide studios, who had previously lent oversight to EA's various studios across the globe. Earlier today, it was revealed that the displaced exec will be kept on as senior advisor to Riccitiello. In his new role, Lee will oversee special projects, such as strategic partnerships.

Macrovision GameTap-ped for DRM
To complement its new ad-supported business model, GameTap today announced a partnership with Macrovision to provide a revamped digital storefront. The more than 900 games in GameTap's lineup will now be fed through Macrovision's games-distribution network, where the company's proprietary digital-rights management technology will be applied to the offerings. Macrovision's network currently houses more than 1,700 games through its various other partnerships. According to Stuart Snyder, executive vice president for GameTap parent company Turner Broadcasting, the deal will allow the service to expand its offerings in the future.