One of the big things in the gaming sphere that has existed for many years now is the ability to play online with friends, either against each other or cooperatively. With so many excellent multiplayer titles releasing over the years, it's fundamental to many studios that they implement it as either a key aspect of their games or as an additional feature that guarantees longevity. With the recent full launch of Unreal Engine 5, Epic has also unveiled the multiplayer project Lyra, with an in-video demonstration showing off what it can do for developers.
In the keynote presentation which premiered yesterday on the Unreal Engine YouTube channel, Nick Penwarden, Vice President of Engineering at Epic Games, introduced the pre-built title Lyra which features an in-game editor for speedy development. Although it's shown off as a generic online shooter with basic graphics and plain textures, the editor's power comes from its customization and versatility, and is essentially a foundation for creators to use when making their own games without "having to start from a blank slate."
In a demonstration of the game, technical art direction lead Zak Parrish gives an overview of how the editor works and how easy it is to switch between customizing maps and jumping in to test them out. Given that there are a litany of modern games using Unreal Engine 5, such as Redfall and the upcoming new entry in The Witcher series, it shows just how powerful this latest iteration of the ubiquitous development tool is, with Parrish able to add new assets and swap out textures in seconds. The general idea behind Lyra is that it allows an enormous level of creativity from the start by utilizing the engine to its fullest.
With the likes of CD Projekt Red also switching to Unreal Engine 5, Tim Sweeney's original software has fast become the industry standard for the development of AAA and independent games. The fact that Epic has included Lyra from day one means that veteran developers or even those just starting out can get to grips with the latest iteration of Unreal.
As one of the most popular game engines in the world, alongside the likes of Unity and the Cryengine, Unreal Engine 5 seems to be an exciting tool for all manner of studios. While it's powerful enough to push technology forward in the industry, it will also be interesting to see whether any modders come along to reimagine older games in this version of the engine, such as the fan who used it to remake aspects of Ocarina of Time.