!['State Of Unreal 2023' Shows Off The Immense Potential Of Future Xbox Games](https://images.purexbox.com/f613efdd62337/state-of-unreal-2023-shows-off-the-immense-potential-of-future-xbox-games.900x.jpg)
Yesterday, we were treated to the annual 'State of Unreal' presentation for 2023, giving us a glimpse of where Unreal Engine is going in the future, complete with an absolutely jaw-dropping trailer for Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2.
Epic Games kicked off the presentation with an introduction to Unreal Engine 5.2, showcasing a real-time demonstration called "Electric Dreams" in which a Rivian R1T goes off-roading in a forest. You can check out the video down below, along with some more information courtesy of the Unreal Engine blog.
"The R1T’s distinct exterior comes to life in the demo thanks to the new Substrate shading system, which gives artists the freedom to compose and layer different shading models to achieve levels of fidelity and quality not possible before in real time. Substrate is shipping in 5.2 as Experimental."
"The state-of-the-art R1T showcases the latest technology and vehicle physics, with the truck’s digi-double exhibiting precise tire deformation as it bounds over rocks and roots, and true-to-life independent air suspension that softens as it splashes through mud and puddles with realistic fluid simulation and water rendering."
"In addition, the large open world environment is built using procedural tools created by artists that build on top of a small, hand-placed environment where the adventure begins. Shipping as Experimental in 5.2, new in-editor and run-time Procedural Content Generation (PCG) tools enable artists to define rules and parameters to quickly populate expansive, highly detailed spaces that are art-directable in manner and work seamlessly with hand-placed content."
Perhaps even more impressive than the Unreal Engine 5.2 trailer was Epic's demonstration of the "Metahuman Animator", which showed Hellblade actor Melina Juergens being recorded on an iPhone and then turned into a highly realistic human model within just a few minutes. Again, you can watch and find out more about this below:
"MetaHuman Animator will enable you to use your iPhone or stereo helmet-mounted camera (HMC) to reproduce any facial performance as high-fidelity animation on MetaHuman characters. With it, you’ll be able to capture the individuality, realism, and fidelity of your actor’s performance, and transfer every detail and nuance onto any MetaHuman to bring them to life in Unreal Engine."
"Planned to release in the next few months, MetaHuman Animator will produce the quality of facial animation required by AAA game developers and Hollywood filmmakers, while at the same time being accessible to indie studios and even hobbyists. With the iPhone you may already have in your pocket and a standard tripod, you can create believable animation for your MetaHumans that will build emotional connections with your audiences—even if you wouldn’t consider yourself an animator."
Incredible stuff, then, and there's a lot more where that came from - the full State of Unreal 2023 event is highly worth a watch if you're interested, which also included details on a massive new Unreal Editor feature for Fortnite.
What are your thoughts on all of this? Let us know down in the comments below.
[source unrealengine.com]
Comments 21
I have been saying for a while now, i think covid and learning UE5 has slowed this gen down some, but when the floodgates open we might see games that we didn’t even think these machines were capable of. Xbox has a lot of talent around UE5 and built the hardware with its functions in mind. Not trying to throw PS5 under the bus but it’s missing some things Xbox threw in last minute. Granted that threw off their Dev kits and made the launch a little rocky, but the gains are going to start coming through in 2023 and beyond. Looks outstanding!!
That Metahuman thingie looks cool. Cant wait to scan my ugly face into games….
@Green-Bandit I would strongly agree with you in that switching from unreal 4 to 5 has been slowing things up. The developers of other engines are having to upgrade as well on the fly to keep up…
@AlwaysPlaying yes, thank you. Some argue with me about this, but the level of detail and extra learning of the engine hasn’t helped, i remember the guy at coalition saying a face rendering demo they made had more data than a whole game of Gears of War, a face! So yeah this is going to take time and the reward should be worth it, but it has lead to slowing down of projects. Redfall is using UE4 and even it had some delays, for comparison sake. 😀
@Green-Bandit It also helps that Microsoft has heavily invested in the optimization of the engine for Xbox. There are quite a few studios within Xbox Game Studios that are leveraging UE5.
I have yet to see a Sony-based studio take part in these UE5 showcases and 2 studios from Xbox Game Studios have taken part: The Coalition and Ninja Theory (if I am wrong on this, then I am happy to be corrected).
The Coalition has been integral with getting it optimized for DirectX 12/Xbox.
The tech looks incredible. I can't wait to see games that actually really utilise it.
I think what makes me most excited is how developer and creative focused it all is. It should allow teams to speed up their development process, which ultimately should lead to more frequent games without sacrificing high graphical fidelity.
@Green-Bandit I agree with the first part of your post, but was genuinely wondering what functions you think XSX has that PS5 hasn't got. For reference neither system uses stock RDNA2 silicon, they both are custom chips with their own custom functions. E.g. While XSX has things like Mesh shaders, Variable Rate Shading PS5 has it's own custom 'Geometry Engine' that does a lot of the same tasks.
Like you I'm not trying to throw anything under the bus, just trying to have a frank and adult discussion on it. But I believe the reality is this was overplayed in the run up to the systems launch, but isn't panning out to be the case.
My understanding is that the one area XSX might have a larger advantage is in Machine Learning / AI tasks such as a DLSS equivalent, if Microsoft were to create one.
@Moonglow true and good points, in fairness to Sony they use a lot of in house made engines, so they don’t pay and use UE4 or UE5 much. But yes Xbox will be heavily invested in UE5 and should have some great looking titles from it, plus Coalition works on UE like no one else. They specialize in it and teach it out from what i have seen. Thats a great feather in the cap for all these new studios coming into MS, they can learn and borrow help from each other.
@themightyant yeah buddy you know i love talking with you, you always have great knowledge and insight. I learn a lot and see things differently when we chat, always here to talk with you.
I think from what i know you answered it, sony uses an engine but many still say Sony doesn’t have full RDNA 2.0 features, only Series X/S has full AMD support. PS5 is based on RDNA but Mark Cerny would never confirm its full 2.0 support. Now will we see anything gained by that? Thats the question and more than likely from 3rd parties not so much, but MS should be able to take more advantage in house software wise and have an edge support wise. VRS and Sampler feedback seem to be the ones talked about the most. I won’t lie and say i understand all of it, some of it, but i try and stay in my lane and this one is a little over my head at times, but from industry dev’s it seems to have advantages. Again these are claims and we are a year or so from seeing if they hold any advantages clear to the eye and gamers. Hope thats fair and makes sense. Thanks for always picking out my posts and talking with me, again i really enjoy your knowledge and insight to the industry 😀
@Green-Bandit Like you I am a layman and some of it is outside my area of expertise, but I try to keep my ear to the ground as much as possible, to know and understand as much as possible.
My gut feeling is that if we haven't seen the advantage yet, two and half years into the generation, then I don't think it will ever be that big an advantage. If I had to bet I suspect by the end of the gen, especially on a few first party titles, Xbox will sneak ahead graphically but it will still be quite close.
But the reality is we are at the point of diminishing graphical returns, whether we could even spot that without Digital Foundry slowing it down and zooming in 300% is dubious. Moreover artistry and developers skill is more important that the apparent tech gap.
I believe 'full' RDNA 2 is a bit of a red herring and PS5 has enough capability in it's custom tech to cover most of those features they didn't get by default with RDNA 2. To give an analogy I have a TV that is HDMI 2.0, it isn't fully HDMI 2.1 certified. But it has extra HDMI features not in the HDMI 2.0 spec, so I can play games with at 4K 120fps with HDR and VRR. In short it does everything I would need out of an HDMI 2.1 TV while still being HDMI 2.0+. I suspect it's similar with PS5 and RDNA 1+ / 2-.
As I said the one area I think Xbox might have an advantage is ML/AI. This is a long and interesting read that, to be clear, is just speculation but it makes logical sense to me.
@BrilliantBill all good points. Sad about Creation Engine, but I don't really play BGS games for the graphics, but it's nice to have and does add to the whole presentation.
I still remember salivating at that Slipspace engine trailer and was really disappointed how far Infinite seemed to be from there.
Playground, Turn 10 and The Coalition are all wizards though. The later has been working on UE5 including helping Epic with that impressive Matrix demo. Look forward to seeing what they put out next, just personally it's a shame it will likely be Gears, i'd love to see them work on anything else. Rumour is they might be working on at least two things. Fingers crossed!
@themightyant well i slightly disagree with your take that if we haven’t seen it yet in 2 plus years we won’t, only cause the gen has been littered with cross gen games and very little new games that push something like a UE5 and so on. Now in late 2024 if we don’t see something i would say it’s a wash. I want to see Gears 6, HellBlade2 and the June showcase first. But less i agree that Sony has enough to make the normal eye say that is close or plenty good enough, but much like the one X vs PS4 pro , we seen some games take advantage of the extra horsepower. No telling and Sony could offset some of that with the PS5 Pro. Do keep in mind and not a insult to Sony but they don’t like to spend much on tech and build alternatives in house. They didn’t want to spend for Dolby, full RDNA 2.0 and this is something they have mastered, get 90% of the thing they don’t want to pay for, and it works, i really like my audio on PS5, but i have a Dolby Atmos surround sound and i do prefer that. Long story short we are going to get great games on both and i think the proof in the pudding will show in certain titles, but not all. I do think Series X is the better built hardware, but it’s not by leaps and bounds.
@GamingFan4Lyf While none of Sony studios have been apart of UE showcase. It was the PS5 that Epic originally used to show off UE5 for the first time. Sony has also been dumping billions of dollars into Epic to make their console the best place for UE. So don’t underestimate Sony just cause their studios haven’t shown anything off.
@Green-Bandit
I think you are correct, Sony never confirmed full RDNA 2.0 support for the PS5 but they do have modified bespoke solutions/tech based on RDNA 1.0
And Mark Cerny was very likely ambiguous about it on purpose to avoid a potential Internet meltdown 😁, preferring to mostly talk about it's custom SSD solution were the PS5 has an advantage. I mean there are probably folks out there that convinced themselves that the PS5 is actually more powerful than the Series X with Microsoft only using off the shelf components in its console(s) while Sony used some bespoke alien technologies 😄.
@Sol4ris Sony has a good set of features and a well built machine even tho it’s ugly and big, but the Series X is the better built hardware and software box. The advantage the SSD was suppose to give seems like splitting hairs. I mean it’s not 2 or 3X faster like many claimed it may be. I am loving my Series X, just wish they would touch up the UI in a few spots like they claim they will in 2023 and then just drop games into GP by the boat loads and they are good. I am moving into a 2 floor house that me and wife just bought, so i will have an upstairs game room, and downstairs living room, thinking i might buy a second Series X for downstairs. never owned 2 of the same console before. But never had more than one playing area either.
@Green-Bandit Perhaps you are right on cross-gen, good point, noted. As for One X vs PS4 pro there was a MUCH bigger on paper difference between the two i.e.
Whereas specs for PS5 and XSX are MUCH closer by comparison AND don't forget diminishing returns, you need more of a gap to highlight that difference than last gen.
Plus specs don't tell it all, it's how they work together and avoid bottlenecks that is important.
My understanding is that it wasn't that Sony didn't want to PAY for RDNA 2, it's that they didn't want to WAIT for full RDNA 2 and instead took a custom version of many of those work-in-progress features into what they call their Geometry Engine, much like my HDMI 2.0+ tv. Only time will tell if they are really missing out.
Ultimately I am really thrilled with both consoles, they are just so well balanced compared to last gen, the SSD in particular in both is a game changer and the CPU isn't outdated before the gen even began! Hard for me to pick a favourite, I like some things more on one, and others on the other. Looking forward to great games on both. I'm off to game. Peace!
@themightyant good points, i agree, and yes both are really well balanced this gen. Which is nice, enjoy your gaming, can’t wait to play Diablo 4 beta all weekend.
Can i have games, not talking faces...ugh.
I need to upgrade my PC
@Floki I am sure Sony engineers are working with Epic to ensure that UE5 runs fine on the system. And it will run just fine on PS5 - no doubt about it.
Yes, it was a nice PR move to make people think that UE5 couldn’t run on Xbox due to PS5’s faster SSD speed for a little while until it was debunked.
Billions if dollars? Seems a little much.
But, even still, Microsoft’s studios actually working with it for their own games helps to provide more support for the engine. Who better to turn to for support than the company’s own developers providing lessons learned?
It’s like the difference between seeing something “on paper” and then “real world” metrics.
I just feel like Xbox will be the better optimized console for UE5 games in the long run simply because Microsoft’s studios are helping to optimize it while also developing games using the tech. Microsoft’s engineers can use that feedback when helping third-parties.
But…time will tell. And if I am wrong? Life goes on. I’ll continue playing the games I like on my Series X, PS5, or Switch. 🤷♂️
@BrilliantBill yeah ok. Keep pushing the buttons with shapes on them.
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