Two years ago, Epic Games promised to bring us a better next-generation game engine. Today, during its State of Unreal livestream event, Epic announced that the Unreal Engine 5 is now available for free download.
While the new engine boasts a better user interface and improved performance, most gamers are more excited about getting better graphics. Thanks to its Lumen global lighting solution, the engine provides much more realistic dynamic lighting. Meanwhile, its new Nanite virtualized geometry system provides the geometric details needed for more immersive games and experiences.
As for game developers, most are thrilled that Unreal Engine 5 allows them to work on different sections of open world games as part of independent teams. The result should be that it’s easier to make high-fidelity games on a truly epic scale. Gamers all over the world are excited to see what CD Projekt Red will do with this engine with the next Witcher game.
However, you don’t have to wait for Witcher to experience the potential of Unreal Engine 5. Fortnite, for example, has been running on this engine since December. Also, Unreal Engine 5 powered The Matrix Awakens tech demo that blew us all in the same month. From today, the open world city of that demo is now available for developers to start creating their own immersive adventures.
Since the developers are often “hands-on” students, Epic has also released a new multiplayer shooter, Lyra, which was created with Unreal Engine 5. The game seems to scratch the itch you might have for shooters like Unreal Tournament, and Epic hopes that developers can learn more about the engine from this new title.
To better explain what the new engine can do, Epic CTO Kim Libreri spoke to The Verge. “It’s great to be able to experience user experience flows much earlier than anyone else,” he said. “So actually, it’s very valuable to our customers because it means they don’t have to deal with it. We don’t end up putting super unthinkable workflows in front of all users. It’s great from that point of view, especially with something as big as the Matrix demo and as big as Fortnite. “
Kim is also proud that they like high-budget shows The Mandalorian they used Unreal to create compelling virtual sets. With this new engine, he believes we will see some jaw-dropping visuals in our games, movies and TV shows. “It really means that beyond the boundaries of media, whether you’re shooting a movie, a TV show, or even a corporate application, you don’t really have to think anywhere about making that choice,” he said. “Obviously, if you’re planning on shipping to low-end platforms, you still have to think about how many triangles there are in the scene.”
“But on the new generation of hardware, it’s absolutely a game changer,” he continued. “It is absolutely feasible that a scene made for a streaming show on Netflix or Disney – in which they have practically used the highest resolution assets – now there is a possibility that something may appear in a game or, as we head into the future. , showing oneself in some metaverse experience.
While the mention of the “metaverse” is enough to make some players turn up their noses, no one can deny both the power and potential of this engine.
What excites you the most with Unreal Engine 5? Let us know in the comments!
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