Fortnite represented one of the first games to use Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5, showcasing the many improvements that UE5 held over the previous iteration. Though impressive, UE5 does suffer from some drawbacks, and so with the launch of Fortnite Chapter 4, the game now utilises the new and improved Unreal Engine 5.1.

Making the announcement on their blog, the Fortnite team said “Fortnite Battle Royale Chapter 4 is here! With the release of the new Chapter, Fortnite Battle Royale now makes use of Unreal Engine 5’s newest, most innovative features, via Unreal Engine 5.1.”

As mentioned, while Unreal Engine 5 offers some highly impressive graphical fidelity, all is not perfect – especially when it comes to foliage. As such, it is exciting to see Fortnite being upgraded to UE5.1 and all the benefits that come along with it, including:

• Groundwork for the Lumen dynamic global illumination and reflections system, the Nanite virtualized micropolygon geometry system, and Virtual Shadow Maps
• A Programmable Rasterizer to allow for material-driven animations and deformations via World Position Offset, as well as opacity masks – particularly useful for foliage
• Increased developer efficiency
• Enhanced world building tools
• Updates for virtual production, broadcast, and live events
• Animation, rigging, and modeling enhancements
• Audio system enhancements
• AI toolset improvements

It has been interesting to see the progression of Fortnite not only in terms of the game’s content, but also its technology. Looking back at older versions of the game, it is clear just how much better the game looks right now, while still maintaining its familiar art style. Hopefully other developers make good use of Unreal Engine 5.1 and its improvements.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of the screenshots? Are you impressed by the game’s progression? What studio would you like to see use UE5.1? Let us know down below.

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