Game Engines
Ongoing coverage on Game Engines.
Latest coverage
Eterspire’s Seeds of Growth update lets players raise a tree garden and adds quality-of-life features
The indie MMO Eterspire has released its 'Seeds of Growth' update, introducing a new tree garden feature that allows players to cultivate various tree types for resources and rewards. The update also brings significant quality-of-life improvements, including combat tweaks, enhanced camera zoom, click-to-move functionality, and localization enhancements. Additionally, the game has officially moved to the Unity 6 engine.
'No old code exists': Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis experience director confirms the 'reimagining' had to be built totally from the ground up on Unreal Engine 5 — but this meant Crystal Dynamics could add more tech upgrades
Crystal Dynamics' Jeff Adams confirmed that Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis is a complete reimagining built from the ground up on Unreal Engine 5, as no original code exists. This approach allowed the team to implement custom technology for physics and graphics, ensuring a modern take on the classic title. The game is set to release on February 27, 2027, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Thief: The Dark Project Remastered is Adding a New Campaign, The Tarnished Mirror
Nightdive Studios has announced a new campaign, "The Tarnished Mirror," for the upcoming Thief: The Dark Project Remastered. The game will feature the new KEX Engine and support 4K resolution at 120fps. It is slated for a Winter 2026 release window across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
Ex-Blizzard employee has 'vibe' coded a new game engine with backing from AMD: 'We're developing 93x…
Former Blizzard employee Mark Kern has developed a new game engine called Kun-Zhi, which he claims was built using AI and is 93x faster than Unreal Engine. The engine, backed by AMD and Razer, is intended to be AI-first and will be released to the public. Kern, who previously worked on World of Warcraft and founded Red 5 Studios, believes this approach significantly speeds up development.
Arm explains its mobile-first AI-reconstruction technology, which takes a different tack from the "black box" approach of DLSS 5
Arm has unveiled its new AI-native compute platform and Mali G2-Ultra NX GPU, focusing on mobile-first AI reconstruction technology. This approach aims to improve graphics performance and reduce power consumption, offering an open alternative to Nvidia's proprietary DLSS 5. The technology supports features like ray tracing and is designed to be adaptable by developers, with upcoming support for Unreal Engine and potentially Unity.
Creative Assembly says its new Warcore engine has allowed it to take Total War: Warhammer 40,000 into space and build 'a bigger play area for all the planets, all the solar systems, the whole galaxy — 'I think that's the biggest thing for campaign'
Creative Assembly has detailed how its new Warcore engine significantly enhances Total War: Warhammer 40,000, enabling a galactic scale for campaign gameplay and improving rendering, animations, and the handling of numerous projectiles. The engine's advancements are crucial for the game's vision, allowing for faster development and higher quality.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance director says DLSS 5 does right by KCD 2, 'people are crazy' for thinking it's…
Daniel Vávra, director of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, defended the use of DLSS 5, stating that critics have "literally gone crazy" and that the technology helped realize the team's artistic vision by improving lighting and detail. However, some users on X argued against his point, with one stating it "oils up characters to the nth degree for muh realism." The article also touches on Warhorse Studios's previous controversy regarding AI replacing an editor.
'Can I cry?': Stalker 2 devs say its 2.0 update's engine overhaul was a nightmare—but worth the…
GSC Game World's decision to overhaul Stalker 2's engine from Unreal Engine 5.1 to 5.5.4 for its version 2.0 update was a difficult but ultimately rewarding process. Despite the 'nightmare' of custom code integration, the developers believe the move to a standardized engine like Unreal is beneficial for the game and the studio's future.
The Elder Scrolls 6 will keep Skyrim's famous cheese physics – now Bethesda needs to give me a reason to care
The Elder Scrolls 6 will continue to use Bethesda's Creation Engine, the same engine that powered Skyrim and its famous physics for objects like cheese. The author argues that while the engine allows for complex object persistence, Bethesda has not fully leveraged its physics capabilities in vanilla gameplay. They suggest that future Bethesda titles should utilize the engine's potential for more interactive puzzles and gameplay mechanics.
Nightdive's Thief remaster unearths a 'very very out of date version control repository' with 'the…
Nightdive Studios' upcoming remaster of Thief: The Dark Project has uncovered an outdated version control repository from its original development. Software engineer Josh Dowell shared insights from the code, revealing programmer comments about 'hacks' and rushed development cycles. The article also notes the Dark Engine's technical similarities to id Software's Quake engine.
The Sandbox Sets October Studio Debut After Engine v14 Rollout
The Sandbox is targeting October for the public release of its Studio game creation toolkit, following the August 12 debut of Studio Beta and Engine v14. Engine v14 introduces a unified SceneNode system for organizing game elements and promotes prefabs to first-class building blocks. A Game Jam with a $7,500 prize pool, judged by Larry Hryb, is also underway with submissions due September 11.
id Software is “All In on id Tech”, Says Executive Producer
Executive producer Marty Stratton confirmed that id Software is fully committed to its in-house id Tech engine and will not be switching to Unreal Engine 5. Despite recent layoffs at Xbox, Stratton expressed confidence in the studio's ability to remain a technological powerhouse and continue developing great games with its proprietary technology.
Marty Stratton says id Software is 'all in on id Tech' following Xbox layoffs
Despite recent layoffs at Xbox, id Software producer Marty Stratton confirmed the studio is "all in on id Tech" and has no plans to switch to Unreal Engine. This statement comes after speculation about the studio's future following significant staff reductions.
Godot adoption is rising: what are devs getting out of the engine?
Godot is experiencing significant adoption growth among game developers, driven by its lightweight nature, fast testing capabilities, and open-source model. This trend accelerated following Unity's controversial runtime fee announcement, leading many developers to seek alternatives. Developers praise Godot for its quick startup times, efficient debugging, and ability to run on less powerful hardware, making it a viable tool for both hobbyists and commercial projects.
Three Epic veterans are building an AI-powered game engine to break the industry's doom cycle
Industry veterans Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient have founded Immens, a new company aiming to develop an AI-powered game engine to challenge established players like Unity and Unreal Engine. The engine will focus on extensibility and flexibility, allowing developers to customize workflows and integrate AI tools to streamline development and reduce costs. The team believes this approach is necessary to break the current cycle of increasingly expensive game development and foster more creativity and risk-taking in the industry.
The Sandbox Rebuilds Its Creator Stack: Engine 14 Lands in Studio Beta
The Sandbox has released Engine 14 as part of its Studio Beta update, introducing significant architectural changes to its development framework. This update replaces the legacy Actor/SceneComponent structure with a unified SceneNode format, improving asset placement and prefab handling. Engine 14 also enhances multiplayer replication and makes AI tools publicly available, aiming to position The Sandbox competitively against engines like Unity and Unreal.
Console Game Development Is Moving to Unreal Engine, and Halo Just Proved It
Halo Studios has transitioned from its proprietary Slipspace engine to Unreal Engine 5 for Halo: Campaign Evolved, marking a significant shift in console game development. This move aims to reduce internal engine maintenance costs, allowing more resources for game creation and faster content delivery to platforms like PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
AI agent that works inside Unity heads to Gamescom as BGA stacks its Aug. 26 lineup
Bezi will demonstrate its AI agent, which operates within the Unity Editor to assemble scenes, edit prefabs, write scripts, and debug issues, at Gamescom on August 26. The Blockchain Game Alliance is promoting the session, which also features a ONEchain demo of an agent-driven gaming economy. Bezi's agent indexes entire Unity projects in real-time and applies changes directly, differentiating itself from tools that only offer suggestions.
Halo: Campaign Evolved’s Troubled Development Led to Multiplayer Project Cancelation – Rumor
A recent rumor suggests that Halo: Campaign Evolved experienced a troubled development, with significant issues arising from the transition to Unreal Engine 5 and mismanagement by Halo Studios leadership. Support studio Abstraction was reportedly removed from the project, leading to work being redone from scratch and contributing to bugs and missed deadlines. This mismanagement also allegedly led to the cancellation of a multiplayer project.
Portal opens Gen8 early access to 20 hand-picked creators
Portal is launching an early access program for its Gen8 game engine, inviting 20 creators to develop games alongside the team and help refine the tools. Gen8 is the third product in Portal's 2.0 roadmap, following Studio and Nexus, and aims to allow users to describe a game and have the engine orchestrate its creation. The company, led by CEO Benjamin Charbit, is backed by Animoca Brands Corporation Ltd.
