Over time, game engines have grown to encompass more and more of this process in one place, though specialty tools are often better at any one given aspect. Not that long ago you might make your 3D models in one program, animate them in another, create the sounds in yet another and then do the same for game logic, lighting, physics and a dozen other aspects of what you’re building. Engines are a general name for the tools developers use to create and manipulate the visuals, sounds, physics and other aspects of a 3D production, whether that’s a game, a film or something less well defined like an augmented reality experience. Why is a new version of a gaming development tool making such a big splash, and why should you care about it?įirst, about the software itself.

Epic recently released the first public version of its Unreal Engine 5, a sprawling multi-tool development environment for games and other 3D content… immediately followed by a $2 billion investment from Sony and the Lego family.

Unreal engine 5 install