Remember back in 2020 when Epic Games shocked the world with the UE5 showcase? Well, this surely changed our perception and more is yet to materialize with the upcoming Unreal Engine 5 games.
Unreal Engine 5 games are starting to look closer and closer to real life thanks to Epic Games’ constant engine updates such as the game-changing Unreal 5.1 and the more recent Unreal 5.2 update, adding in new visual improvements and technologies such as Lumen, Nanite and Virtual Shadow Maps. These updates have greatly increased environment size and added enhanced AI toolsets that are going to make development much easier. With that being said, let’s dive deep into all Unreal Engine 5 games announced so far, released and upcoming, and see for ourselves how these titles look compared to other game engines in terms of visual fidelity, physics, and overall aspect of the game.
Released Unreal Engine 5 games
Fortnite
With the release of Fortnite’s fourth Chapter, Epic Games disclosed that the game is employing some of the most recent features released in Unreal Engine 5.1. This free-to-play game has added rounds of seasonal content separated by both Chapters and Seasons since its launch. Unreal Engine 5, which Fortnite adopted last year, made its third game-related appearance in this period. The Witcher series and Doom are just two of the properties that will be included in the game’s newly released teaser. Shortly after the Chapter 4 teaser was posted, Epic Games wrote a blog post about how Fortnite benefitted from the technological improvements included in Unreal Engine 5.1.
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, and PlayStation 4 Slim, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox One S, Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, Xbox One Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite, Microsoft Windows and Mac
Release date: 21 July 2017
The Matrix Awakens
The Matrix Awakens, a remarkable demonstration of Unreal Engine 5’s capabilities, was published in December 2021 for PlayStation and Xbox consoles. The demo’s purpose was to showcase the realistic height the Unreal Engine 5 games can reach. The demonstration itself is a technological wonder that displays intricate models, dense crowds, and ray tracing. It has cinematics and an on-rails part where you may engage agents in an exciting automobile chase while shooting them. Also, you may play around and explore the open-world sandbox as much as you want after the initial gameplay.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows
Release date: 9 December 2021
Redfall
First announced at the Xbox Developer Direct event, Redfall is a co-op first-person shooter created by Arkane Studios Austin and published by Bethesda. The game has a certain similarity with the Left 4 Dead franchise, but the developer claims it’s a blend between Far Cry and Stalker. Due to its open-world nature, RedFall is not your typical horde shooter. You have several options, including killing objects by moving in any direction, exploring the city’s NPC-filled streets, and completing side tasks. A new deep dive gameplay was recently revealed, stabilising Redfall on the most anticipated UE5 games list. Update: Check out RedFall’s rocky launch in our RedFall bugs article.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Microsoft Windows
Release date: 2 May 2023
Low Light Combat
Another notable mention for the Unreal Engine 5 games list is a demo called Low Light Combat a game developed as a competitive multiplayer shooter in which light is your only weapon. Battles take place within a day and night cycle that is always shifting, so your fast-paced skirmishes quickly become suspenseful and exhilarating battles of wit.
Platforms: Microsoft Windows
Release date: 9 December 2021
Lyra Starter Game
With Lyra Starter Game, players can learn the fundamentals of Unreal Engine 5, including level design, asset creation, scripting, and more. It serves as a gateway to empower aspiring game developers, offering a hands-on and interactive introduction to the exciting world of game development using one of the most advanced game engines available.
Platforms: Microsoft Windows
Release date: 5 April 2022
Upcoming Unreal Engine 5 games
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is an upcoming first-person shooter survival horror role-playing game (that was a mouthful), developed and published by Ukrainian game company GSC Game World. The game had its ups and downs due to the war, but the developers are resilient and are dedicated to shipping Stalker 2 as soon as possible. Fingers crossed!
Platforms: Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows
Release date: TBD
The Day Before
Probably one of the most well-known UE5 upcoming games, The Day Before has captivated the world with its first gameplay trailer. Fntastic is developing the multiplayer open-world survival horror game that Mytona will release. Despite The Day Before controversy over the game being real or not, we really hope to see this one as it kind of built great hype among us.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Microsoft Windows
Release date: 10 November 2023
The Witcher 4
Not much is known about the upcoming Witcher game, despite the fact that it is being built using Unreal Engine 5. The game will also be the first title in the upcoming trilogy, with no clear information about it. We can only imagine how this game is going to look, especially after The Witcher 3 next-gen update, where we’ve seen incredible ray tracing light effects and reflections in the forests of Velen.
Platforms: TBA
Release date: TBA
Unrecord
You know you’ve succeeded as a game developer when gamers across the world doubt your first trailer launch and think that the footage is actually real and not a video game at all. It’s the case with Unrecord game, a body cam style FPS with ultra-realistic graphics, all running in Unreal Engine 5. Currently, in development by a small studio of two located in France, Unrecord feels like one of those revolutionary indie games that come by once every decade or so. With its photorealistic graphics, believable weapon and hand animations that beat even triple-A studios can’t match, this body cam police game will surely become a classic after its launch, probably sometime in 2025 or even in 2024 if you’re lucky.
Platforms: PC, TBD
Release date: TBD
Under a Rock
Under a Rock is another promising game, developed by a small indie studio, Nordic Trolls. It will be a procedural open-world survival craft game for players between one and ten. The gameplay revolves around a primitive yet hazardous place with a distinct evolutionary route where wildlife is enormous, the Neanderthals still exist, and curses are real. Will definitely add this game to my watchlist to see how things evolve, hoping to see it released soon.
Platforms: TBA
Release date: TBA
All Unreal Engine 5 games list:
- Anime Tokyo
- Ark II
- Black Myth: WuKong
- Blight: Survival
- Deadrop
- Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate
- Dreamhouse: The Game
- Dungeons & Dragons
- The First Descendant
- First Dwarf
- Hell is Us
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
- Karagon
- Kingdom Hearts IV
- Mortal Online 2
- Inflexion Games
- Paranormal Tales
- Off The Grid
- Shadow of Conspiracy: Section 2
- Silent Hill 2 Remake
- Tomb Raider Next
- Crystal Dynamics
- Unawake
- RealityArts Studio
- Tekken 8
There are countless UE5 games currently in development that pop up now and then. That’s why we are updating this article periodically to keep you in the loop with the best Unreal Engine 5 games. While these ultra-realistic games are being created, make sure to check out our Unreal Engine 5 news feed to get the latest. If you’re an aspiring UE5 developer and are looking for resources, make sure to check out Unreal Engine 5 tutorial guide. Don’t forget to make sure you can run the game engine by reading our Unreal Engine 5 system requirements article.
