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- Unreal Engine 5 has revolutionized game development with efficiency and stunning visuals, but its overreliance has led to poorly optimized releases.
- Many developers lean on the engine’s preexisting tools, resulting in visually homogenous games with performance issues.
- Despite its capabilities, the engine’s widespread adoption raises concerns about creativity stagnation, outsourcing inconsistencies, and monopolistic control by Epic Games.
Despite looking groundbreaking initially and having contributed to some of the most visually stunning titles, Unreal Engine 5 has ruined the video game industry. However, the engine isn’t to blame; instead, it is the developers.
Most studios are shifting towards Unreal Engine 5, and it is a double-edged sword since the development becomes efficient and easier with some great visuals. However, many are undermining the severe negative effects the engine has to offer. Even bigger studios are ditching their in-house game engines developed for decades in favor of Unreal Engine 5.
Why It Matters: Ever since the release of Unreal Engine 5, big titles have launched with poor optimization since developers have started to become accustomed to the ease that comes with video game development with that engine.
Unreal Engine 5 Has Unified Video Game Development
Almost every video game that has come out within the past few years was based on Unreal Engine 5, whether it’s an Indie title or a AAA project. The engine has a lot of artistic freedom, as developers can create visually stunning games no matter what art style it has.
Also, for future titles, studios like CD Projekt Red have shifted to Unreal Engine 5 for the development of Witcher 4 after the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077 on Red Engine, and I fear that Witcher 4 may follow the same suit.
EA is also moving to Unreal Engine 5 for the next Battlefield game, leaving Frostbite Engine behind, and the entire feel of the franchise will change. Knowing EA and how Unreal Engine 5 works for large-scale, visually stunning games, I’m calling it quits for Battlefield.
If this isn’t all, 343 Industries is also moving towards Unreal Engine 5 with the next Halo project instead of utilizing the Slipspace Engine. It’s mind-boggling that for most of these titles, game engines weren’t even the issue but rather the actual development, and these engines worked just as fine for the game.
Moving To UE5 Is Just Lazy Development
While the engine is amazing and groundbreaking, developers have become reliant on the engine’s pre-existing presets, such as Lumination, Nanite, and other features that Unreal Engine 5 has to offer.
There’s no limit to innovation; it’s just that developers have become too lazy with the pre-existing tools and don’t bother too much beyond that. The games do look visually amazing with the results, but you’ve probably noticed that all Unreal Engine 5 games look homogenous.
Moreover, Unreal Engine 5 has also become cost-effective, and most of the time, studios outsource certain segments of production to other foreign studios for a fraction of the production price. That outsourced work doesn’t look good at times and is a severe drawback to the game’s overall quality.
The Drawbacks
With great visuals come greater drawbacks. It’s no secret that Unreal Engine 5 games are quite performance-intensive, and it takes a really powerful system to run games based on those engines to run the games on a decent preset without upscaling.
Beyond that, every game needs to compile shaders, which can take a lot of time. Due to more complex materials and so many assets used, engine bloat, and a higher game size, shader compilation can sometimes take more than 30 minutes before actually playing a game
Epic Games Has A Monopoly On UE5 Games
Since Epic owns Unreal Engine 5, it has a hold on games being developed using the same engine. Getting paid a fraction of the sales made by the same engine does make sense, but Epic has certain restrictions on the engine, which alters the game’s direction overall.
Moreover, their gender, racial, and ethnic inclusiveness is also quite sensitive and absurd. They don’t allow gender languages, which doesn’t make sense. One regulation also states that nothing in the game should be used to assume someone’s gender, such as using collective nouns such as “Guys.”
Forced inclusiveness is always bad for video game development, as we’ve seen countless times before, but the requirements Unreal Engine 5 has is just ridiculous. I wonder how much humor will be cut down from Borderlands 4.
How To Properly Utilize UE5 To Develop Games
Comment
byu/AncientPCGamer from discussion
inpcgaming
Firstly, I’m not a video game developer, but I need to highlight all the problems surrounding games utilizing Unreal Engine 5. Most developers working as lead game designers and environmental artists are fairly new to the game engine.
Older developers who previously worked on the proprietary engines were laid off, and the Unreal Engine 5 proved to be too much for the newer devs, rather than focusing on the visuals and physics of individual objects, which don’t matter if the game doesn’t run well, developers should be focusing on optimizing the game and reducing clutter.
Despite all this notion towards Unreal Engine 5, some studios are still using their in-house engine. One such example is the recent Indiana Jones and The Great Ciricle by MachineGames, which uses Id Tech 7, an amazing engine that looks and runs quite well. The result is amazing, and the game performs quite well on the Xbox Series X|S.
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[News Reporter]
Shaheer is currently pursuing a Business degree while also working as a part-time Content Writer. With his deep passion for both writing and video games, he has seamlessly transitioned into a role as a Journalist. Over the past two years, Shaheer has contributed as a freelancer to various websites and landed positions on acclaimed platforms like Gamerant. Currently, his role at Tech4gamers is as a Features Writer, but he also covers News occasionally. Shaheer’s favorite gaming franchises are Assassin’s Creed and the God of War series.
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