Epic: Unreal Engine 4 may debut in 2012

Next-gen-ready engine will have “profound effect”

Words: Tom_Goulter on February 10, 2012

Epic Games may be ready to unveil its Unreal Engine 4 technology before 2013, says the company's vice president Mark Rein. While many didn't expect to see the tech before 2014, Rein says “people are going to be shocked later this year” when they see the capabilities of the new engine. Last year, the company used existing tech to put together a realtime demo of what to expect from future hardware paired with the Unreal Engine:

Rein's almost-canonical projection for the unveiling of future tech sits pretty well with all those incessant rumors about the PS4 and Xbox 720 and so forth. Built with the next generation of consoles in mind, a new Unreal Engine would be in a fine position to have the “profound effect” Rein foresees it causing within the industry. Rein's also said to have commented that Unreal's currently running UE4 on “systems we can't name yet” – but whether that means the PlayStation 4 or just a new internal dev PC that no-one's thought of a cute nickname for yet, we'll leave to you to decide.

Platforms:

Xbox 360, PS3, PC, PS Vita, Wii U

Topics:

Epic Games, PlayStation 4, Unreal Engine, Wii U, Xbox 720

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cgkyou - February 14, 2012 12:26 p.m.

The video shown in the article is a target render video of modified Unreal 3 engine footage. It is to give an idea to the industry about what Epic has planned for Unreal 4 and what they expect next gen games to look like. This isn't meant for users but other developers. It was shown at last years GDC (game developers (not players) conference). Unreal 4 engine should be shown at this years GDC. It again will be demonstrating features of the engine for the purpose of other developers. Not regular gamers. Why is this so hard for you guys to understand? They aren't showing off a new game. They are trying to get the industry excited about their new engine so they can then sell that engine to other devs.
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NightCrawler_358 - February 12, 2012 6:32 p.m.

Sure, the looks are real important and all, but this just makes me more excited for Unreal Tournament 4.
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Nathanstah - February 12, 2012 9:49 a.m.

*sigh* Just pointing this out here, but uh... first of all, they acknowledge that video was posted a year ago. Second, that wasn't Unreal Engine 4; it was based upon Unreal Engine 3. So, basically... a YEAR OLD video of an engine that is NOT actually Unreal Engine 4, can accurately demonstrate what another engine will look like? Right...
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inkyspot - February 13, 2012 4:52 a.m.

Smiling ear to ear because of you comment. I serioulsy would not said that better.
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wayde1995 - February 12, 2012 5:38 a.m.

Those cops sound like combine.
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wickedgizmo - February 11, 2012 6:45 a.m.

I can't believe all of you are bickering instead of being excited. Look at the difference between 2 or 3. You have no idea what unreal engine 4 will be capable of. And if you watched the making of this video you would know all the tiny little things that make it amazing. The smoke of the cigarette, the real time reflections. @JayQ the engine has absolutely nothing with any of that. A game engine is a pre-built blueprint for developers to easily add their one maps textures and sounds.
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Z-man427 - February 10, 2012 5:47 p.m.

Yeah, the water and blood shows a marked improvement over current gen graphics, and apparently there are real-time reflections that I didn't even notice, but this isn't all that impressive. If they show stable gameplay running graphics this smoothly, I might get impressed, but this is just a cinematic with bullet time.
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samsneeze - February 11, 2012 4:16 p.m.

tri-Ace has a video up on Youtube that looks great and it's all real time rendering on current gen consoles.
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JayQ - February 10, 2012 4:37 p.m.

I just seriously hope they focused on optimization and the engines online ability because I have yet to play a game on the Unreal engine this gen that didn't have broken multiplayer in the form of horrid hit detection, lag, and host advantage.
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GhostNappa2k10 - February 10, 2012 4:45 p.m.

It isn't the engine that controls online gameplay, it's the servers of the companies developing the games using the engine.
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JayQ - February 10, 2012 4:58 p.m.

yes but when ever single game that is made on the engine has the same problems I'm compelled to believe it is the engine. Especially when games by the same developers/companies that are not on the engine run much, much better. Also the amount of detail and graphics plays a roll in online play, more detail and better graphics means more data that needs to be sent and received by ones internet, it's why Gears of War is one of the laggiest franchises this gen.
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StrayGator - February 11, 2012 11:52 a.m.

Nope. Rules and assets are stored locally on each machine. When one machine detects a bullet hit in point X, all it has to send is "point X hit by a bullet (time Y)". Then every client knows what that means - how it affects gameplay (player damage, area damage, physics...)and output (sounds, explosions, effects etc.)
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GhostNappa2k10 - February 12, 2012 1:56 p.m.

I've used the Unreal Engine, hell I started developing my own game using it, and I can assure you, that the online stability of games is not dependant on the engine, but the servers.
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RedHarlow - February 10, 2012 4:18 p.m.

We can look forward to games using this engine for the next 6 or so years now.
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