Epic Games shows off Unreal Engine 5 said to offer ‘quantum leap,’ will work with iOS and Mac

Epic Games teased its upcoming Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) today with a detailed look the super sharp and detailed gameplay it will make possible. While the demo shared today on YouTube was done with the PlayStation 5, Unreal Engine 5 will also bring its impressive tech to games on iOS and Mac too.

Epic’s newest game engine will be officially landing next year but the demo today running on an early version of the PlayStation 5 gives a stunning look at the next generation of the Unreal Engine (via ). Epic Games’ CTO Kim Libreri said UE5 going enable a leap on top of the quantum leap that next-gen consoles are going to offer.

The results showcase incredible visual quality, combined with the detail and photo-realistic lighting Epic promises its new tools will deliver. According to Kim Libreri, Epic’s chief technology officer, “the next-gen consoles are going to give consumers a quantum leap, and UE5 is another leap on top of that.”

Two of the biggest pieces of tech that make UE5 such an improvement are dynamic global illumination (Lumen) and truly virtualized geometry (Nanite).

Nanite is a tool that will virtualize geometry, which means it will automatically generate “as much geometric detail as the eye can see,” the company says in a blog post, and allow developers to diversify that geometry endlessly based on any source asset.

And here’s how Epic explains Lumen:

“Artists and designers can create more dynamic scenes using Lumen, for example, changing the sun angle for time of day, turning on a flashlight, or blowing a hole in the ceiling, and indirect lighting will adapt accordingly,” the company explains.

Unreal Engine 5 will arrive in 2021 as a preview before the full launch that will support the next-gen PlayStation and Xbox consoles, Mac, iOS, PC, iOS, and Android. Epic Games’ CEO Tim Sweeney told  that UE5 will be a valuable tool to create “fantastic” cross-platform games.

“You can build a high-end console game and it can look fantastic and you can also make it work on smartphones, and you can build an audience far bigger than just the hardcore gaming audience by shipping it on more platforms,” he adds, referencing Fortnite. “The technology can enable that and make it more productive.” With its full launch in late 2021, Epic says UE5 will support next-generation consoles, current-generation consoles, PC, Mac, iOS, and Android.

Check out the impressive demo of the upcoming game engine below: