Obsidian's Avowed Appears To Be Running On Unreal Engine 5

I'm just ready to see more of this game. Hoping it can scratch that ES itch until 6 comes out.

I hope this one of the demos for the Xbox event

Gameplay hopefully in the showcase

Looks like a lot of the Xbox developers are using unreal 5. Meaning they can share knowledge and tips when developing Xbox games with each other.

Maybe Halo should have gone this way instead of the new slip thing engine. Because that engine has done nothing good for the game graphically campaign wise.
It’s not like using a bespoke engine for Halo as given any advantages or special results to wow us.

I love that Microsoft is all in on UE5.

Sony may have generated buzz around PS5 for the initial reveal of UE5 - going so far to have people thinking that none of that demo was even possible on Xbox due to having the faster SSD; but Microsoft is going to be the one showing off the most use as the majority of Sony's development teams use proprietary engines (with great success, might I add).

Sure, there will be plenty of third-party support on PS5; but I feel like it's going to shine more on Xbox due to the fast adoption of first-party studios using it.

I could be wrong, though.

There was also talk though that it now looks nothing like the cg trailer…it’s more cartoony than realistic. Which will frankly be disappointing if that’s the case regardless of unreal 5

I need to see more, obviously. But yes, I’m most certainly intrigued. Fingers crossed it turns out good!

@Dezzy70 I think if they have some intelligence they should be thinking about it at this point. Their Slipspace demo where they announced Halo Infinite looked superb but almost none of that got into the game. So It is up to debate if the graphics are an engine problem or a production problem.

But since they are a shooter game I wonder if adopting Infinity Ward or Id tech engine (both capable of superb graphics) could be better for them.

@BrilliantBill
I think they got the gunplay and grapple hook spot on for me, just needs more diversity in its universe environmentally and effects wise.
I would love Halo to become the top end showcase in all areas it can be and should be.

@Dezzy70 For the production costs halo should be top tier. But tbh I didn’t have a problem with halo infinites graphics. And it was a great running experience zipping across that open world.
I do think though if they ever use another engine it will likely be ID engine over unreal…I kinda recall Phil spencer mentioning something about the engine and halo during the Bethesda acquisition mutual patting on backs round table they did.

On a side note, I’d love to see a halo rpg now they have all these studios that have specialised in western rpgs

Engines are only as good as the 'developers' vision and ability to extract what they want from them. Ease of use and great tool sets, features etc all help the Devs achieve the results they want and/or enable them to do things in a ways that wasn't 'possible' in a 'game' before as a game has to 'run' at 30fps or more. It was always possible to use RT or Super high quality mesh models - but not in a 'game' running in real time.

MS has always had a strong relationship with Unreal Engine and it doesn't surprise me that its the 'engine' of choice for multiple developers. It was obvious to me that 'Xbox' would be able to run that PS5 demo reveal - even before they did the 'follow up' running on a Series X. The Coalition, experienced Unreal users, have had a big impact on the development of UE5, helping to get Hardware accelerated 'Lumin' working as well as being responsible for the Matrix Revolution demo on the Xbox

UE5 may just of launched but its Open Source so will continue to be improved and more optimised for developers to extract more from the same spec hardware.

Avowed is one of many games I'm looking forward to finding out more, as is Hellblade 2, State of Decay 3 and many other games announced for UE5. I still think that the Coalition may well of remade Gears 1-3 in UE5 - partly because its such an adored franchise, but also a way for the developers to get to grips very quickly with the engine. Its an 'easier' way to learn and you have the 'template' to copy. Its not like you are trying to convert artist sketches, new game-play concepts, creative vision vs realistically possible concepts, plans/ideas etc that change and evolve through the development process etc etc. All of that has already been done before so its all about 'can you use UE5 to 'recreate' - which inevitably helps focus the developers on 'using' UE5 instead of learning whilst also trying to make something entirely new...

just give me avowed.