Game Engine | Build Multi-Platform Video Games - Unreal Engine

AAA Games

Battle-tested on the world’s most demanding games.

Powerful enough to keep up with expansive open-world gameplay. Reliable enough to be the foundation for more than half of next-gen titles currently in development. There’s a reason today’s biggest games are being built in UE5. We hope yours will be next.

Learn about licensing

The latest for Game Development

All the news from the State of Unreal

All the news from the State of Unreal

Catch up on some exciting announcements from GDC 2024.

Welcome to the new unrealengine.com

Welcome to the new unrealengine.com

It’s a new design, and a lot more. Learn about the changes we’ve made to put our community’s needs at the center of our web experience.

Unreal Engine 5.3 is now available

Unreal Engine 5.3 is now available

This release brings numerous wide-ranging improvements, together with some exciting new Experimental features.

Features for game development

Unreal Engine comes with everything you need to build and ship successful AAA games, including industry-leading graphics, procedural audio design, support for multiplayer and networked games, full source code access, and much more.

See all features

Game-changing fidelity at massive scale

UE5 provides the tools you need to create truly immersive, expansive worlds. With Lumen dynamic GI, indirect lighting reacts to changes in direct lighting on the fly. Render massive amounts of geometric detail with Nanite and Virtual Shadow Maps. Easily manage and stream your levels with World Partition. And collaborate with team members on the same region of the same world with One File Per Actor.

Lumen dynamic global illumination

Nanite micropolygon geometry

Virtual Shadow Maps

Procedural Content Generation

World Partition

Unreal Engine screenshot

Built-in animation toolset

UE5 puts powerful animation tools right where you need them: in the editor. Create unique, custom rigs with Control Rig. Modify skeletons—or even create entirely new ones—with the Skeleton Editor. Build, layer, and refine complex animations in Sequencer. And when it comes to controlling what happens at runtime, you can create and blend complex behaviors with Animation Blueprints and Motion Matching.

Control Rig

Skeleton Editor

Sequencer

Animation Bluprints

Motion Matching

Blue Dot screenshot

Full C++ source, Blueprint visual scripting, and more

With UE5 you’ve got full access to the source code, a robust C++ API, and the intuitive Blueprint visual scripting system so you can differentiate your games and optimize your workflows. Plus, there’s built-in support for setting up networked multiplayer games.

Source code

Programming with C++

Blueprint visual scripting

Networking and multiplayer

Blueprints screenshot

AAA success stories

Moss Book 2 screenshot

The making of innovative VR puzzle-platformer Moss: Book II

Moss: Book II has spellbinding graphics, satisfying animations, and fantastic sound. Take a look at how Polyarc used Unreal Engine to build this AAA-caliber VR game.

Polyarc

Psychonauts 2 screenshot

How Psychonauts 2 revamped its roots

How Psychonauts 2 revamped its roots Discover how fast iteration in Unreal Engine had a big impact on the development of the critically acclaimed Double Fine Productions platform-adventure game Psychonauts 2.

Double Fine Productions

Shin Megami Tensei V screenshot

Atlus develops Shin Megami Tensei V with Unreal Engine

Esteemed RPG developer Atlus talks about how it developed one of the most highly anticipated sequels for Nintendo Switch.

SEGA of America, Inc.

Kingdom Hearts III screenshot

Behind the curtain on KINGDOM HEARTS III by Square Enix

Explore how Unreal Engine was used to create more than 10 worlds, including Disney's and Pixar’s, for one of the most celebrated games of this console generation.

Let’s get started

Whether you’re new to game development or just new to Unreal Engine, we’ve got a collection of learning materials, tutorials, samples, and guides to help you get up and running fast.

Tutorials

Epic Online Learning · 1yr ago

Your First Hour in Unreal Engine 5.2In this course from Epic Online Learning, we cover the high-level basics of Unreal Engine 5.2. Learn to create new projects using project templates and add custom or premade assets with the Content Browser. Easily add Actors to levels and modify their properties with the Details panel; gain control of environmental lighting and effects with Lighting Actors; and create Blueprint Actors and use the Blueprint Editor to control them. Finally, learn how to package your projects for playtesting and sharing.

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Andi · 2yr ago

Your First Game In Unreal Engine 5Practical in-editor demo making a game from scratch highlighting UE5 features. Show how fast you can create a game leveraging new and established features of the engine.

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Epic Online Learning · 2yr ago

BeginPlayBegin Play is a series of videos designed for experienced developers who are transitioning from other engines like Unity to Unreal Engine 5. Each video gives a high-level overview of the various features of the engine and how they connect together.

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Documentation

Know what you want to do but not how? Dig into our wide range of documentation to find your footing.

Understanding the Basics

Working with Content

Programming & Scripting

Setting up your Production Pipeline

Go to Documentation

Sample Projects

Use these templates available in Unreal Engine and Unreal Editor for Fortnite as foundations for building custom islands and experiences.

Stack 'O' Bot

Stack 'O' Bot is a small project that can be a good starting point for advanced beginners.

Content Examples

Content Examples

Get up to speed with a variety of different techniques for building your own games.

Lyra screenshot

Lyra Sample Game

A perfect starting point for those looking to jump right into Unreal Engine for game development.

The Matrix Awakens screenshot

City Sample

This downloadable project reveals how the city scene from The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience was built and demonstrates how we used Unreal Engine 5 to bring it to life.

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Licensing

We’ve streamlined our license terms to make your choices clearer. Need something designed just for you? Work with us to create a custom license. Visit our FAQ or reach out to the community if you have any questions.

Under $1 million USD in revenue?

Free

Game developers (royalties apply after $1 million USD gross product revenue)
Individuals and small businesses (with less than $1 million USD in annual gross revenue)
For educators and schools (no revenue limits)

Access to the source code
All platforms & features
Forums and documentation on the Epic Developer Community

Download now View FAQ Licensing Terms

Over $1 million USD in revenue?

Royalty-based

If you're creating a game or application that relies on engine code at runtime and will be licensed to third party end users, you'll pay royalties and won't be required to purchase seats.

Seat-based

If you're using Unreal Engine for commercial purposes, have generated more than $1 million in the past 12 months, and are not creating a game or application that relies on engine code at runtime and will be licensed to third party end users, then a seat license fee is required.

Unreal Engine is just the beginning.

With Unreal Engine, you don’t just get powerful creative tools. You also have access to an entire ecosystem to publish, operate, and collect revenue from your game.

Self-Publishing Tools

Now open to all developers and publishers, start distributing PC games on the Epic Games Store with our self-service publishing tools.

Online Services

These free cross-platform services make it easier and faster for devs to successfully launch, operate, and scale high-quality games.

Launching for Console?

There’s no fee or cost related to using Unreal Engine on a console but you’ll need platform holder approval to access the necessary SDKs.

Notification of Release

When the time comes to release your title, please fill in the release form and let us know a little about yourself and your game.

Reporting Royalties

When your game starts generating revenue, you’ll need to track gross revenue and pay a 5% royalty after $1 million USD.

Submit royalties

Looking to use the Unreal Engine logo in your project? Access our brand guidelines and logos here.

Need help?

Connect with creators across industries and around the globe. Share everything from shortcuts to snippets to secret shader tricks. When you use Unreal Engine, you’re never alone—our community of hundreds of thousands of developers is here to support you as you bring your idea to life.

Dev Community Forums

Ask and answer questions; show off your work and get inspiration from others.

Unreal Source

Come hang out with us and our developer community on Discord.