News
GDC 2023
We’re excited to be back for GDC 2023! Join us and discover the latest features coming to Epic’s ecosystem of tools, attend tech talks and sessions, and play plenty of awesome games at our booths as we celebrate the game development community.
February Marketplace Sale preview: over 1,500 products—now 50% off
February’s Marketplace sale is here, with over 1500 products now 50% off–so whether you’re looking for something small to polish your project or begin the next award-winning game, film, or viral music video, there are savings to be had! Remember to act quickly. The discounts end on February 26th at 11:59 PM Eastern
Introducing the NoAI tag
All of the assets you create and distribute on the Unreal Engine Marketplace belong to you. We are updating our Epic Content License Agreement and introducing product tags to give you greater control, protection, and visibility over how your work is used in connection with generative AI programs and how you search for content, inspiration, and more on the UE Marketplace. Learn more about this in our updated Agreements.
Unreal Challenge: Spellar Performance last call
Curtains are almost closing on the submission window to our ongoing Unreal Challenge, but it’s not too late–try something new and join the community in testing your skills in Spellar Performance, focusing on all things VFX. Get involved for your chance to win cash, software licenses, swag, and more!
VR Games Week 2023
Unreal Engine’s VR Games Week is in full swing, celebrating PlayStation VR2, Meta Quest 2, and PCVR games. Catch all the interviews and behind-the-scenes of fantastic studios and games, including Horizon Call of the Mountain, The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR, Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution, and more.
CROSSFIRE: Sierra Squad brings the FPS franchise to a new reality
Developer Smilegate discusses CROSSFIRE: Sierra Squad moving into virtual reality and how UE and an Epic Megagrant helped build an immersive experience on PlayStation VR2.
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners 2 continues to raise the VR bar
We recently spoke with Skydance Interactive’s Chief Technologist Peter Akemann on the studio’s work on virtual reality games and The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners 2. He talks about how haptic feedback brings the game to life and how UE helped the team overcome challenges for the sequel.
Don’t Blink: Supermassive’s new horror game Switchback VR is watching you
Don’t blink. Don’t open your eyes. Supermassive’s new horror game is watching you. In one of our latest developer interviews, we dive into the nightmare rail shooter that is SwitchBack VR. We discuss everything from deciding to develop a new VR game, the inspirations as well as lessons learned from past creations and how PlayStation VR2’s hardware is allowing the nightmare to come alive.
Another Fisherman’s Tale pushes boundaries as the sequel to 2019’s award-winning VR puzzler
INNERSPACEVR explains how it explored a new perspective with Another Fisherman’s Tale, its return to the charming puzzle world of Bob the Fisherman.
Hubris is a graphically gorgeous VR adventure
Belgian developer Cyborn explains how it created Hubris, a VR action-adventure that has players shooting, jumping, and swimming through a vast alien world.
Tutorial Spotlights
There are over 1300 community-curated tutorials and courses on the Epic Developer Community platform–Let us learn together as we highlight three fantastic tutorials and their creators!
Creating Quick 3D Photoreal Environments in UE5 | Sergio Duarte
3D Rendering Veteran Sergio Duarte breaks down their process for quickly creating a 3D photorealistic environment in UE5, starting with creating the skymap, and then adding the panoramic backgrounds, terrain textures and displacement, and everything else in between.
Glass Materials and Shaders | Nikolay Shamaev
Glass can be a difficult material to create. In this tutorial, CG Artist Nikolay Shamaev shows how to make realistic fluted, frosted, and ribbed glass in Unreal Engine 5 with realistic light refractions, all using flexible materials and parameters. This is one you should definitely see through.
Improving Jump Animations | Cobra Code
Are you looking to add more jump to your step? Learn how to make your jump more animated by applying one of the twelve principles of animation called Squash and Stretch in Blueprints, guided by Game Developer and Education Content Creator Cobra Code.
Community Spotlights
Aldian of Ancients | Norian Games
Globally spanning Norian Games brings us a tale as old as dinosaurs, quite literally. Immerse yourself in an ancient world, lost in the shuffle of evolution, filled with creatures that impart awe and wonder. Explore a beautifully crafted open world filled with flora and fauna from the bygone ages while competing with other prehistoric dino species to become the top dino! Woof.
NASA MarsXR 2 Challenge
The NASA MarsXR 2 Challenge asks the larger community to imagine and build out scenarios of tasks required for early human expeditions to Mars in a Virtual Reality
Mars simulation. Help NASA by building XR assets and scenarios for them to use in extravehicular activity research for the surface of Mars and be in for a chance to win a share of 70,000 dollars.
UE5 Living Room | Marcos Silva
In the last few years, Marcos Silva and Mick Abela have been creating a live-action short film called Sim, with many digital environments. Marcos’ latest spin-off has been somewhat of a personal journey to use the confidence and knowledge gained to practice their photorealistic interior lighting skills while diving into Unreal even deeper.