In upscaling from a native 1080p to 4K – a 2x resolution boost on both axes – the quality is comparable (if not quite as good as) Nvidia's DLSS. Recently seen for the first time in a non-UE5 title – Ghostwire: Tokyo – TSR is the best software-based temporal upscaling solution we've seen to date. The demands of these systems are such that native rendering at 4K resolution is not feasible on today's game consoles and that ties into another key feature: Temporal Super Resolution. Nanite is UE5's virtualised micro-polygon technology, delivering incredibly granular detail from assets of motion picture quality and the elimination of geometry 'pop-in'. Lumen is Epic's take on a fully real-time global illumination solution, eliminating the need to rely on static, pre-calculated 'baked' lighting, leaning into hardware accelerated ray tracing where appropriate. We've already seen these in action, of course. UE5 takes the established Unreal Engine 4.27 and adds full support for a number of key next generation technologies.

UE5's release takes centre stage in today's State of Unreal virtual event, and we're told to expect a range of tech deep dives surrounding the technology alongside the launch of the engine itself. In combination with the release, Epic is releasing a cut-down, Keanu-free rendition of the remarkable The Matrix Awakens demo alongside a sample game project to experiment with, called Lyra.

After its game-changing reveal on PlayStation 5 and following a period of early access, Unreal Engine 5 is finally available for general download.

Unreal engine 5 free download