Epic Games has confirmed that the recently revealed Unreal Engine 5 with the Nintendo Switch is compatible. While the engine mainly focuses on new technologies for next generation consoles, it also works with existing hardware. Tim Sweeney from Epic gives us more answers!
Unreal Engine 5 was with one last week breathtaking tech demo presentedthat are in real time on a PS5 is performed. The demo with the appropriate title “Lumens in the Land of the Nanites” showed two technologies called Lumen and Nanite. The former enables incredibly realistic and natural lighting, while the latter removes the polygon boundaries and gives developers the freedom to place as much detail in an environment as they want without having to worry about technical constraints. Of course, most of the discussions were about Unreal Engine 5 to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, so the question of the compatibility of the current generation remained unanswered.
Epic Games “Lumen in the Land of Nanite” tech demo
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Nintendo Switch and other older systems will play Unreal Engine 5
Fortunately Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, officially confirmed that Unreal Engine 5 works on all platforms that its predecessor Unreal Engine 4 support, including the Nintendo Switch. The extended lumen and Nanite functions may not be available on older hardware. However, the engine was developed with scalability in mind. “To ensure backward compatibility, we have this pipeline in which they import or create all of the content. And at the highest level of film quality that runs directly on next generation consoles ”, explained Sweeney in an interview. Newer, more powerful consoles like that PS5 and Xbox Series X can use the new technology, but less powerful hardware like that Nintendo Switch doesn’t have access to all the new bells and whistles.
Perhaps the possible “Nintendo Switch 2” will be able to represent the Unreal Engine 5 like a PS5.
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No comparison with the new console generation of PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Only because Unreal Engine 5 on a device like that Nintendo Switch does not mean that the console will receive games with graphics at a level similar to the “Lumen in the Land of Nanite” tech demo. The Nintendo Switch will continue to benefit from engine support, but scalability is the main reason why Unreal Engine 5 supports so many platforms. Fortnite is an excellent example of how the engine works on multiple platforms. Fortnite changes to Unreal Engine 5 in 2021 and it will likely feature all of the engine’s new features PS5 and Xbox Series X and at the same time offer weakened versions of the game for weaker computers like current generation consoles and mobile devices. Existing devices can continue to be supported in the coming years, while new devices achieve the best possible experience.
Fortnite will be upgraded in 2021 with the new engine from Epic Games
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Unreal Engine 5: Big deal for game developers
UE5that the Nintendo Switch and supporting other platforms is a very big deal for development because developers can install their games on as many devices as possible while still working on the same engine. If the engine scales as well as it does Epic Games it says, hopefully this will help developers with the porting process and enable them to target as broad a range of platforms as possible. The easier the development tools are to use, the more time developers can spend working on the things they want to work on.
Unreal Engine 5 will be released to developers in 2021. Maybe it will Switch 2, which analysts expect to appear in 2023that better implement the new engine from Epic.
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