As part of the latest Summer Game Fest reveal, Epic Games has officially unveiled Unreal Engine 5, showcasing the technology running live on Sony's next-generation PlayStation 5 console. Epic's goal with Unreal Engine 5 is to "achieve photorealism" that is "on par with movie CG and real life," and judging by the Lumen in the Land of Nanite demo, it may very well reach those lofty expectations.
Epic Games created the Lumen in the Land of Nanite tech demo to showcase two specific technologies that will be available to developers working with Unreal Engine 5. The first is Nanite, which will allow game developers and artists to basically put as much detail into the game world as they want. According to Epic, the Nanite technology will allow creators to make what they want without having to worry about polygon count or memory.
The other technology that Epic Games highlighted with its Lumen in the Land of Nanite demo was "Lumen," which is basically Unreal Engine 5's lighting system. One just has to watch the Lumen in the Land of Nanite demo to see that Unreal Engine 5 will be taking lighting in games to the take next level, and that may be putting it lightly. Those who have been unimpressed by next-generation game showcases so far in terms of graphics should definitely check out this Unreal Engine 5 demo, as it proves that next-gen games will definitely be able to reach new heights from a visual standpoint.
As for when gamers will start seeing Unreal Engine 5 utilized in PlayStation 5 games and other titles, it will be a bit of a wait. Epic has stressed that Unreal Engine 4 is currently being used to create some next-generation PS5 and Xbox Series X games currently, but Unreal Engine 5 will be available at some point in 2021. It stands to reason that gamers should start noticing a significant increase in graphical quality later in the generation once games are actually built using Unreal Engine 5.
No new game using Unreal Engine 5 have been announced yet, but Epic has confirmed a game that will be transitioning to it in 2021. Epic Games has confirmed that its mega-popular Fortnite battle royale will be migrating to Unreal Engine 5 mid-2021. How exactly Fortnite will take advantage of Unreal Engine 5 remains to be seen, but more information on that front should become available next year.
Overall, the Unreal Engine 5 showcase from Epic Games was hugely impressive, and it will be exciting to see games take advantage of the technology. In the meantime, fans should keep tuning in to future Summer Game Fest events for more information in the weeks and months to come.