Unreal Fest highlights

Epic Games' Unreal Fest Seattle keynote concluded, celebrating the developer and creator ecosystem and the remarkable projects being built with Unreal Engine and Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). The goal was to provide the same powerful technology used to create games like Fortnite to developers, aiming to collectively shape the future of entertainment and interactive experiences.

Epic Games Unreal Fest highlights and announcements

Several major announcements were made during the opening session. Unreal Engine royalty rate savings were introduced for eligible titles shipped on the Epic Games Store on supported platforms. Unreal Engine 5.5 Preview 1 was made available for exploration, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were introduced to Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN).

On January 1, 2025, the "Launch Everywhere with Epic" program will be introduced, offering a royalty rate reduction from 5% to 3.5% on all platforms and stores for eligible Unreal Engine games published on the Epic Games Store starting in 2025. Developers will qualify for this rate reduction if they release their games on the Epic Games Store before or simultaneously with their release on other stores on the supported platforms (PC, Mac, Android, and eventually iOS). This includes games participating in Epic First Run.

The royalty reduction will apply across all platforms and stores where the games are offered, including consoles. However, the royalty rate will revert to 5% if developers release their Unreal Engine games on another PC or Android store without offering them on the Epic Games Store for the corresponding platform.

To benefit from the program when it launches, developers must agree to the updated Unreal Engine EULA. Temporarily, Epic Games will waive the requirement to simultaneously ship iOS games on the Epic Games Store due to Apple’s "Core Technology Fee." If this changes, Epic Games will provide a minimum of four months' notice to licensees.

More details on the royalty reduction will be provided before January 1 to give developers ample time to plan.

In other Epic Games Store news, Studio Wildcard revealed that ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition, developed by Grove Street Games, will be coming to the Epic Games Store later in the year on Android and iOS in the EU.

Unreal Engine 5.5 Preview 1 released

Epic Games also announced Unreal Engine 5.5 Preview 1, marking another milestone in its journey to push the boundaries of high-fidelity 3D experiences and AAA-caliber content. The full release is expected next month.

During the opening session, a live demonstration featured MegaLights, a new experimental feature enabling the use of orders of magnitude more lights, all movable, dynamic, with realistic area shadows, and capable of lighting volumetric fog. In the demo, a scene with over 1,000 shadow-casting lights was showcased in real-time on PlayStation 5.

Unreal Engine 5.5 introduced several rendering improvements, including Nanite’s ability to render Skeletal Meshes and the Path Tracer being production-ready. Path Tracer is already being used in feature films like Piece by Piece, an animated biography of Pharrell Williams, which opens on October 11.

Additionally, animation authoring tools were enhanced with a production-ready Skeletal Editor, improved Deformers, and new features like TimeWarp curves and Animation Layers. Virtual production tools received significant updates, including production-ready SMPTE 2110 integration for in-camera VFX (ICVFX), multi-camera support, and inner frustum splitting.

A real-time demonstration of BMW’s new 5-Series was also showcased, featuring a digital twin composed of over 20,000 pieces, imported into Unreal via the Datasmith CAD importer and visualized with the Substrate material authoring system.

For high-end mobile games, UE 5.5 introduced Mobile Preview functionality to match device visuals, ensuring optimal player experience across different devices. With Fortnite available globally on Android and in Europe on iOS, Epic Games further optimized UE’s mobile performance, battle-testing these capabilities on a game of Fortnite’s scale.

With 850,000 developers actively using Unreal Engine each month, the developer community continues to grow. Epic Games encourages developers to explore the Epic Developer Community for resources and assistance with their projects.

Fab publishing portal now open

Epic Games launched Fab, a universal marketplace designed to provide developers with everything they need to build real-time 3D experiences. Fab unifies the Unreal Engine Marketplace, Sketchfab Store, ArtStation Marketplace, and Quixel.com under a single platform, offering a one-stop shop to discover, share, buy, and sell digital assets.

The Fab Publishing Portal opened on September 17, allowing Unreal Engine Marketplace sellers to migrate their content. As of today, Sketchfab sellers could also migrate their licensable content, and anyone could sign up as a seller and begin uploading content to the Publishing Portal.

First-person camera mode and TMNT tools in UEFN

Epic Games announced new tools for Fortnite creators. UEFN continues to grow, with over 134,000 islands published and $479 million paid out to creators since March 2023. Epic Games introduced the First-Person Camera Mode device as an experimental release, enabling creators to explore first-person shooter game development.

A new collaboration with Paramount brought the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Fortnite, allowing creators to use TMNT templates, weapons, devices, Prefabs, Galleries, and NPCs to develop their own TMNT islands. The TMNT islands can be published starting November 13.

Epic developer community expands with Indie support

The Epic Developer Community expanded with an all-new "Epic for Indies" hub, offering dedicated resources for small and emerging developers. The new site provides learning resources, tutorials, and a forum for developers to connect and share ideas.

Unreal Engine’s impact across industries

At Unreal Fest, several notable speakers took the stage, including Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., which introduced a new HMI solution combining Unreal Engine with its Snapdragon Cockpit Platform to enhance in-vehicle user experiences.

Mainframe Industries co-founders unveiled new footage from Pax Dei, a social sandbox MMO inspired by medieval Europe, while Anna Donlon of Riot Games discussed their use of Unreal Engine in developing new IP from the ground up.

Tim Miller of Blur Studio and Wes Ball, director of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, shared insights on the future of real-time technology in filmmaking. Ben Grossmann, CEO of Magnopus, spoke about Metallica’s Fuel Fire Fury Fortnite experience, the Karol G Fortnite Festival, and how Unreal Engine is used in virtual production for the Fallout TV series on Prime Video.

Epic Games Unreal Fest