Epic Games has gone ahead and made Unreal Engine 5 available for download to developers from around the world. The next-gen engine is already being used on Fortnite since December last year and now, Crystal Dynamics has announced that a new Tomb Raider game developed on it is under development.
Unreal Engine 5 was unveiled by Epic Games in May 2020 for all existing systems including the then-upcoming PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. One of the biggest features of this engine is called Nanite and it’s meant to allow highly detailed photographic source material to be imported into games.
Nanite is a virtualized geometry technology that can import nearly any pre-existing three-dimension representation of objects and environments, resulting in the infusion of film-quality assets into games. Another highlight-worthy component of Unreal Engine 5 is Lumen, which is described as a ‘fully dynamic global illumination solution that immediately reacts to scene and light changes.’
The best part about Lumen is that it negates the need for developers to craft a lightmap for a given scene, as it does all the calculations on its own to enact real-time light behavior. The other aspects of Unreal Engine 5 include Virtual Shadow Maps for more detailed shadows, Niagara for fluid and particle dynamics, and Chaos for a physics engine.
Crystal Dynamics’ announcement of a new Tomb Raider game based on Unreal Engine 5 hasn’t come with a trailer or any other details, unfortunately. Another game that has been confirmed to be under development on the engine is the next edition of the Witcher series by CD Projekt RED.
Along with Unreal Engine 5, Epic has also released a sample of the impressive Matrix Awakens demo for developers to start building off of.