This looks amazing
Today, Epic Games took the wraps off its newest game engine, Unreal Engine 5. The successor of the current and popular game engine, Unreal Engine 4, the next generation looks to push graphical fidelity to the next level.
With a new game engine comes new technology and buzzwords and this engine is no different. Words such as “nanite virtualized micro-polygon geometry”, “dynamic global illumination”, and yes “Triangles” were tossed around. While some of these words may be lost on casuals, the more tech savory individuals seem to be drooling at the mere mention of them. In the end, it means one thing; games built on this game engine are going to look amazing.
Not content to just talk about Unreal Engine 5, Epic Games and PlayStation teamed up to show a demo running on PlayStation 5 hardware. This demo is called “Lumen in the Land of Nanite” and according to Epic, it’s not just a demo as you can control the character in the virtual world (just not available to the public). An impressive demo as the new technology is showcased conventionally so fans of gaming and technology can all enjoy what’s taking place.
Check out the footage below if you missed it the first time or want to watch it again. For those rocking 1440p and 4K displays, the footage is also available at higher resolutions, unlike the original stream. If you can watch it on a 4K display, please do so.
Going beyond the engine, it’s important to realize that Epic Games is trying to unite developers across the board. With UE5, the goal is to create assets that can be used across multiple platforms. This would mean no more create assets that are for a specific platform, requiring developers and designers to double or triple work. Instead, the same asset would be used, as an example on the PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and then onto mobile devices. It’s ambitious for sure, but at the same time, it makes sense. This would be great for smaller developer shops such as indie developers but would benefit AAA developers as well.
Of course, Epic Games didn’t stop there as they also mentioned that Fortnite, their popular Battle Royale title will also migrate over to Unreal Engine 5 in 2021. The game will see it’s final Unreal Engine 4 update before the end of the year, then once 2021 rolls around the game will shift over to UE5 in preparation for its move to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
Our take:
Seeing this demo running on the PlayStation 5 was amazing, and there’s zero doubt that the game engine is going push the envelope for next-gen gaming. Not only did we get to see a demo running on PS5 hardware, but we’re able to see what this game engine is capable of. We’d also like to point out that this should also look as good on the Xbox Series X and PC, but for now, Epic Games isn’t saying much about those platforms.
We’ll just have to wait until 2021, as that’s when the Unreal Engine 5 will be ready for consumption. What did you think of the demo? Did it sell you on the PlayStation 5 or the Unreal Engine 5? Let us know in the comments.
