As part of the start of Fortnite Chapter 3, Epic Games has announced that Fortnite development has shifted to Unreal Engine 5, the latest version of the company’s graphic technology.
Last year, after the gorgeous Unreal Engine 5 tech demo, Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney said Fortnite would make the shift to Unreal Engine 5 in mid-2021, adding that the new version is meant “to do things that are absolutely not possible today.”
With the arrival of Chapter 3, @FortniteGame development has flipped to Unreal Engine 5.
We’re excited to share this journey with you and are working to make this the best experience possible for the entire Fortnite community.
— Unreal Engine (@UnrealEngine) December 7, 2021
Earlier this year, Unreal Engine 5 was officially released in Early Access, letting game devs test out the new tools and features in the next-gen engine. More Unreal Engine 5 tech demos and projects are already starting to crop up.
Major studios like Gears of War team The Coalition have begun developing on the new engine and showed off a stunning Unreal Engine 5 tech demo; giving a glimpse to what could be the future of the Gears series on Xbox Series X. And, just this last week, a Matrix Awakens Unreal Engine 5 experience leaked on PSN before being officially announced.
But, Fortnite is taking it a step further than these other projects, shifting all development to Unreal Engine 5, pushing the engine beyond tech demos. When it’s fully released, Unreal Engine 5 will support current- and next-gen consoles, PC, Mac, iOS, and Android.
Fortnite Chapter 2 wrapped up earlier this week and was swiftly replaced by Fortnite Chapter 3, Season 1, which comes with a different island map, new gameplay, and a new Battle Pass featuring Spider-Man. Reactions to the changes are already positive, and many fans are specifically praising how good Spider-Man’s web-slinging is in Fortnite.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.