Epic Games, the company most known for both the 'Fortnite: Battle Royale' game and the 'Unreal Engine' series of game development engines, announced that it has updated Fortnite to run on Unreal Engine 5.1. This shift accompanies the launch of Fortnite Chapter 4, bringing fans all-new visuals, weapons, gameplay elements, and cosmetics to enjoy.
The introduction of Unreal Engine 5.1 brings the game's DirectX 12 and Ray-Tracing modes out of Beta, meaning they now function properly and as intended, though they will be optimized more in the future. When playing on Ray-Tracing mode, the game has beautiful dynamic lighting with excessive foliage and textures that make it appear like a modern next-gen game, whereas previously the game bore a simple, cartoony graphical style.
As for gameplay changes, this chapter introduces motorbikes, more than 5 new weapons including the 'Shockwave Hammer,' a gravity-powered hammer that allows players to fly by hitting the floor, and 'EX-Calibur,' a rifle that shoots explosive swords.
Enhanced Game Engines
Epic Games Moved Fortnite to Unreal Engine 5.1 for Chapter 4
Trend Themes
1. Enhanced Game Engines - The shift to Unreal Engine 5.1 ensures that games now have improved visual effects which were not possible before, and perfect detection of player contact.
2. Ray Tracing in Games - The introduction of Ray-Tracing mode in games creates a realistic atmosphere with dynamic lighting and shadows that enhance the gaming experience.
3. Next-gen Gaming - The addition of new visual effects, weapons, and gameplay elements makes the gaming experience far more immersive, allowing it to be categorized under next-gen gaming.
Industry Implications
1. Gaming Industry - The gaming industry can leverage enhanced game engines to create more realistic and immersive games for users, as well as improve the ability to detect player contacts.
2. Graphics Card Industry - The continued adoption of Ray Tracing in games provides opportunities for the graphics card industry to develop more powerful and efficient graphics cards that can handle the dynamic lighting and shadows.
3. Augmented Reality Industry - The development of next-gen gaming will contribute to the growth of the Augmented Reality industry as it provides the possibility for developers to create innovative gaming experiences with the use of AR in the future.