Epic Games recently held its State of Unreal 2023 keynote, showcasing new features coming to Unreal Engine 5.2, MetaHuman technology, Fortnite’s Unreal Editor, and a push to unify its asset marketplaces.
One of Unreal Engine 5.2’s biggest additions is procedural generation tools, which Epic showed off in a demo called “Electric Dreams” that took place in a dense forest. The first preview of Unreal Engine 5.2 is available today.
Epic also revealed Fortnite’s Unreal Editor, which provides creators with new tools to design custom maps and experiences. In a demo, the company showed off some bright Fortnite characters in a gritty, non-Fortnite world. Additionally, Epic announced a major change to the way creators can earn money from Fortnite, pledging 40% of the game’s net revenues to go back to creators. That pool includes Epic itself.
Epic also showcased a demo of MetaHuman animation captured with an iPhone, set to launch this summer. Lastly, Epic will merge all of its asset marketplaces, including Unreal Engine Marketplace, Quixel Bridge, ArtStation Marketplace, and Sketchfab, under one brand called Fab. The marketplace is available as an alpha plugin for the Unreal Editor for Fortnite.
Given the popularity of Unreal Engine and Fortnite, the day’s announcements could have a significant impact on future games.
