As a video game publisher, you are constantly searching for ways to create exceptional experiences for your players. Selecting the right game engine is crucial for achieving this goal.
Unreal Engine has long earned a reputation for offering a robust suite of tools and features that empower developers to craft stunning visuals, immersive gameplay, and innovative experiences in console (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox, etc.), PC, or mobile titles. In fact, in 2023, it was estimated that 80% of the most innovative games penciled for release were powered by UE.
In this article, we’ll explain in detail why so many reputable publishers and game developers use Unreal Engine 4 and 5 to power their games and why you, too, might consider this advanced tool as the backbone for your next immersive title.
Games Made with Unreal Engine – A Powerhouse for Visual Fidelity
The games developed with Unreal Engine are typically thought of as visually striking, but there’s far more to the engine than just being the vehicle for stunning graphics. Let’s go through some of the main UE features, which might be important for you as a publisher.
Breathtaking Graphics
Unreal Engine is renowned for its ability to render hyper-realistic environments, characters, and effects. From sprawling open worlds to intricate details, UE pushes the boundaries of graphical fidelity, making your games stand out visually (think titles like Sea of Thieves and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice).
Real-Time Ray Tracing
Unreal Engine seamlessly integrates real-time ray tracing, creating dynamic lighting and shadows that enhance realism and immersion. This technology allows for stunning reflections and lifelike lighting effects, setting your games apart from the competition (think titles like Fortnite and Bright Memory: Infinite).
Scalability Across Platforms
Unreal Engine’s scalability ensures that your games look incredible on a wide range of devices, from consoles with expansive widescreen TVs to compact mobile phone screens. This allows you to reach a wider audience without sacrificing visual quality.
Proven Track Record
It doesn’t matter if you want a fighting game, a horror game, a battle royale game, a shooter, a role-playing game, a survival game,, or even a next-gen VR game – Unreal Engine boasts a long and successful history of powering some of the biggest titles and game series in a variety of genres. This proven track record gives publishers confidence that their games will be built on a stable and reliable foundation.
VR and AR Capabilities
Unreal Engine’s robust VR and AR support empowers publishers to explore these exciting new frontiers of gaming. This future-proofing ensures their games are adaptable to emerging technologies and can reach new audiences.
Empowering Features
Currently, the gaming industry is on a relentless march towards hyper-realism. Even titles built with other engines are striving for visuals that push the boundaries. Here’s why Unreal Engine is the perfect partner for publishers navigating this ever-evolving landscape: Unreal Engine includes cutting-edge tech like Lumen Dynamic Global Illumination and Nanite real-time micro geometry. These tools, when implemented properly, empower you to create visuals that rival the latest AAA releases, without the astronomical cost of building your own engine.
But that’s not all. The engine’s Chaos Destruction and Niagara fluids features can make your game feel even more real.
Chaos Destruction enables highly realistic destruction effects, allowing for the smashing of structures and shattering of glass with remarkable accuracy, mimicking real-world catastrophe aftermath. It emphasizes intricate details in large-scale destruction, such as bullet damage on walls and shards of broken glass, all while maintaining optimized performance.
Niagara Fluids offers complex simulations of substances like fire and smoke, dynamically interacting with nearby physical objects. Additionally, it facilitates the creation of realistic fluid effects, including water splashes from puddles beneath characters’ feet, with more natural outcomes compared to simpler particle-based setups.
Preparedness for the Future
Unreal Engine 5 and beyond are packed with next-generation features like World Partition for seamless open worlds and Metahuman for creating hyper-realistic characters. Your games will be primed for the future of graphical fidelity.
Overall, Unreal Engine provides a comprehensive solution that minimizes risks, accelerates development, and empowers publishers to create visually stunning and innovative games that meet the demands of today’s players.
10 Games Made with Unreal Engine
At this point, Unreal Engine has a ubiquitous presence in the gaming world, powering a massive range of titles. Here, we’ll give you a glimpse at some of the most popular games leveraging its capabilities, categorized by version.
Games Made with Unreal Engine 4
Fortnite
This ever-evolving battle royale juggernaut offers a unique blend of shooting, building, and crafting mechanics. Its cartoony visuals are a perfect fit for the game’s lighthearted tone, and Unreal Engine 4 ensures smooth performance and large-scale world rendering.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Ninja Theory’s acclaimed action-adventure offers a harrowing, exciting, and unforgettable experience. The game’s use of Unreal Engine 4 is masterful, creating a believably disturbing world and rendering Senua’s psychosis with unsettling detail.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
This action-adventure game from Respawn Entertainment puts players in the shoes of a Jedi Padawan on the run during Order 66. The game’s combat is both challenging and rewarding, and the exploration of detailed Star Wars environments is a treat for fans. Unreal Engine 4 brings these worlds to life with stunning visuals and a vast sense of scale.
Sea of Thieves
This shared-world adventure game from Rare puts players at the helm of their own pirate ship. They can sail the vast seas, tackle quests, battle enemies, or just explore and uncover buried treasure. The game’s colorful visuals and open-ended gameplay create a truly unique experience, and Unreal Engine 4 renders the seascapes and pirate ships with impressive detail.
Kingdom Hearts 4
This upcoming action RPG from Square Enix promises to be a visual spectacle, leveraging Unreal Engine 4 to create a vibrant world that blends Disney and Pixar themes with a touch of stylish darkness. Players can expect to wield powerful magic, explore expansive environments, and team up with iconic Disney characters on a brand-new adventure.
These are just a few examples, and the list continues to grow! Unreal Engine 4’s versatility is on full display with this diverse range of titles.
Unreal Engine 5 Games
Unreal Engine 5 is a relatively new game engine, so there aren’t a ton of games out yet that were built entirely on UE5. However, here are a few titles that have either been confirmed to be powered by Unreal Engine 5 or heavily rumored to be using it.
Black Myth: Wukong
This upcoming action RPG is based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. It boasts stunning visuals and a unique combat system that blends martial arts with mythical abilities. Black Myth: Wukong is shaping up to be a showcase for the power of Unreal Engine 5.
Redfall
This upcoming open-world cooperative shooter from Arkane Studios (the creators of Dishonored and Prey) is set in a world overrun by vampires. Redfall promises to deliver unique character abilities, a strong narrative, and stunning visuals thanks to Unreal Engine 5.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
The sequel to the critically acclaimed Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is being developed using Unreal Engine 5. The game promises to take players on a dark and harrowing journey through Senua’s mind, with even more impressive visuals and a deeper exploration of mental illness.
Echoes of the End
This open-world fantasy RPG from Myrkur Games is also being built on Unreal Engine 5. It boasts a vast and beautiful world to explore, filled with challenging enemies, epic boss battles, and deep character customization options.
Discovery
This upcoming title from Stepico offers players an unparalleled cinematic experience. It combines the sophistication of a high-end first-person shooter with a compelling narrative, expertly utilizing the capabilities of Unreal Engine 5. Expect visually stunning landscapes, including evolved sea life-inspired flora, futuristic vehicles, weaponry, and memorable deadly predators rendered with remarkable realism. The gameplay will be seamless across multiple platforms.
These titles showcase the immense potential of Unreal Engine 5 for crafting the next generation of visually stunning and captivating games.
Top Companies Often Choose Reliable Vendors for the Development with Unreal Engine
Even though Unreal Engine offers a robust set of tools, the way they’re implemented and optimized is what makes an epic game stand out from a marginal one. That’s why top publishers and game concept owners often choose to work with experienced game development vendors for their UE projects. Here’s what a seasoned UE game development company like Stepico can offer.
Mastery Beyond the Basics of Game Design and Development
Optimizing the Engine’s Potential
Experienced vendors like Stepico possess an in-depth understanding of Unreal Engine’s intricacies. They can leverage advanced techniques and workflows to push the engine’s capabilities further, unlocking its full potential for your game’s specific needs. This expertise translates into superior performance, stunning visuals, and a more polished final product.
Elevating Gameplay Mechanics
Experienced vendors can go beyond the engine’s core features and craft innovative gameplay mechanics tailored to your specific game concept.
Streamlined Process Allowing to Fully Leverage the Power of Unreal Engine
Tried-And-True Procedures
Building a game encompasses more than just using the engine. At Stepico, we have established processes for project management, communication, quality assurance, and team collaboration. This ensures a smooth development flow, avoids bottlenecks, and keeps your project on track.
Specialized Talent and Expertise
Vendors assemble teams with diverse skillset beyond just Unreal Engine proficiency. This includes experienced programmers, artists, animators, and designers who can leverage the engine to its full capacity while bringing their own creative vision to the table.
Reduced Risks and Increased Efficiency of Game Development
Mitigating Technical Challenges
Experienced vendors have encountered and overcome various technical hurdles during past projects. This knowledge allows them to anticipate potential issues with Unreal Engine and proactively implement solutions, saving you time and resources.
Faster Time-to-Market
A vendor’s established workflows and experience with Unreal Engine can significantly accelerate development compared to building an internal team from scratch. This translates to a faster time-to-market, allowing you to capitalize on market trends and capture player interest sooner.
Cost-Effectiveness
Building an in-house Unreal Engine development team can be expensive, requiring recruitment, training, and ongoing maintenance. Partnering with a seasoned vendor eliminates these costs and provides access to a readily available pool of talent, offering a more cost-effective solution.
Focus on Your Core Strengths
Freeing Up Internal Resources
By outsourcing Unreal Engine development, publishers can free up their internal teams to focus on core competencies like marketing, publishing, and brand management. This allows for a more strategic allocation of resources and ensures your team dedicates its expertise where it matters most.
Reduced Management Burden
Managing an in-house development team requires significant time and resources. Partnering with a vendor alleviates this burden, allowing publishers to focus on high-level decisions while trusting the vendor to handle the technical complexities of Unreal Engine development.
Overall, while Unreal Engine is a powerful tool, top publishers recognize the value of partnering with experienced vendors such as Stepico. These companies bring a wealth of expertise, streamlined processes, and specialized talent to the table, maximizing Unreal Engine’s potential while minimizing risks and ensuring a successful outcome for your game.
To Sum Up
Unreal Engine continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in gaming, offering unparalleled visuals, immersive experiences, and a constantly evolving feature set. However, navigating this powerful engine and translating your vision into reality requires a skilled and experienced partner.
Stepico, a prolific game development company with nearly a decade of experience, stands ready to be your guide. We’re not just Unreal Engine experts; we’re passionate innovators, constantly keeping our finger on the pulse of the latest UE technologies like Niagara, Lumen, Metahuman, Nanite, PCG, and others. This allows us to seamlessly integrate these cutting-edge features into your game, ensuring it stands out from the crowd.
Whether you need a full-cycle Unreal game development partner to bring your game to life from concept to completion or a specialized team to handle specific aspects like art production, Stepico offers a holistic solution tailored to your needs. We leverage our extensive Unreal Engine expertise to craft stunning visuals, captivating gameplay mechanics, and optimize your game for seamless performance across all platforms.
Don’t settle for anything less than extraordinary. Contact Stepico today, and let’s use the Unreal Engine to turn your dream game into a reality.
