In the afternoon of this Wednesday it was shown for the first time Unreal Engine 5, the new graphics engine from Epic Games, with a playable technical demo run on playstation 5. Despite being focused on the next generation of consoles and computers, it also work on current consoles and mobile devices.
"Unreal Engine 5 to be available in (phase) preview in early 2021, and in full release in late 2021, "can be read on the official statement from Tim Sweeney's company. Ah it is specified to work in "next generation consoles, current generation consoles, PC, Mac, iOS and Android"
Games created in Unreal Engine 4 can be adapted to the new engine
Epic Games explains that Unreal Engine 4.25, the current version of the engine available to all developers, offers support for next generation consoles, Xbox Series X and PS5. The brand is working "closely with console makers and dozens of video game developers and publishers using Unreal Engine 4 to build next-gen games."
Those titles, if the creators so desire, may be migrated to Unreal Engine 5. Epic Games itself will do it with Fortnite, which will switch to the new graphics engine in mid-2021. "We are designing for forward compatibility, so you can start your next-generation development now on UE4 and move your projects to UE5 when ready."
At the Summer Game Festival broadcast on the afternoon of May 13, Geoff Keighley (The Game Awards) interviewing Sweeney and other EU officials5. There they specified that the engine will have an option for the games developed for the next generation can be adapted to current systems, obviously cutting functionalities and visual quality. "Although obviously you can't expect the same level of fidelity as the fully-engineered next-generation experience unveiled today," says Richard Leadbetter of Digital Foundry
