Tools

Unreal Engine

Powering worlds

Epic's Unreal Engine evolved from a shooter's technology into the world's most widely used game engine, powering everything from indie games to films.

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Overview

Unreal Engine began as the technology powering Epic’s 1998 shooter Unreal. Tim Sweeney’s engine offered features competitors lacked and was licensed to other developers. Each generation (UE2, UE3, UE4, UE5) expanded capabilities and accessibility. Today, Unreal Engine powers games across all platforms and has expanded into film, television, and architectural visualisation.

Fast facts

  • Developer: Epic Games.
  • First version: Unreal Engine 1 (1998).
  • Current version: Unreal Engine 5.
  • Business model: royalty-free until $1 million revenue.
  • Uses: games, film, TV, architecture.
  • Notable games: Fortnite, Gears of War, countless others.

Version evolution

Unreal Engine generations:

  • UE1 (1998): Unreal, Deus Ex.
  • UE2 (2002): Unreal Tournament 2003, expanded licensing.
  • UE3 (2006): Gears of War, dominant middleware.
  • UE4 (2014): accessible to indies, free tier.
  • UE5 (2022): Nanite, Lumen, film-quality graphics.

Modern capabilities

UE5 features:

  • Nanite: virtualised geometry.
  • Lumen: global illumination.
  • MetaHuman: realistic digital humans.
  • Blueprints: visual scripting.

See also