It’s Time to Acknowledge: Unreal Engine 5’s Performance in Many Games Has Been Disappointing, Raising Concerns for Major Future Projects

Reflecting on my experience with Stalker 2, I can’t help but question whether it was a wise decision to make Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5 an industry staple for the forthcoming decade.

Undoubtedly, GSC Game World’s much-anticipated FPS/survival game showcasing UE5 turned out to be a bit of a nightmare at launch, riddled with issues. Yet, having dabbled extensively in UE5 games over the past four years, there’s a growing sense that Epic’s vaunted engine might not be as universally beneficial as those initial demos and The Matrix Awakens led us to believe.

To set the stage for my little tirade, I should confess that I’m not exactly an expert in the technical underpinnings of game engines, programming, or 3D modeling. My brush with such tools was limited to fiddling around with Bethesda’s Creation Engine years ago. Despite this, I’m naturally inquisitive about the laborious processes behind crafting video games and interactive experiences.

Being a gamer who plays way more than is perhaps advisable over the course of a year has its perks. It allows one to discern subtle performance nuances, good and bad. Merging this with hands-on hardware insights and tweaking operating systems, it becomes clearer where performance issues stem from, beyond simply grumbling about lag and filing for a refund—which, by the way, is something gamers should embrace more vigorously.

Remember when Fortnite had that massive update in late 2022, transitioning to UE5.1 to leverage new features like Nanite and Lumen? After years of hyping its engine, Epic seemed poised for a grand revolution, inviting everyone to marvel at the enhanced visuals in a blockbuster online game.

Yet, the reality didn’t match the hype. Fortnite veterans, accustomed to minimal settings for peak performance, were taken aback by increased stuttering post-migration to UE5.1 —even those with top-notch gear. Two years later, not much has improved. Launching Fortnite after updating your drivers or the game itself spells trouble. Shaders are recompiled live, making for a less-than-smooth experience. Definitely not ideal.

Speaking of shaders, they’re integral to quick load times across varying hardware setups—a challenge less pronounced on consoles but noticeable in modern PC gaming, especially until your system syncs with the latest AAA title demands. Different engines handle this differently, but UE5 in particular struggles with ‘stutter issues,’ especially when navigating expansive worlds. The absence of solid shader compilation during launch compounds these challenges.

Even when UE5 flexes its muscles well—as seen in Remnant 2, where Lumen and Nanite elevate scenes to new visual heights—the expected performance drag on even the priciest PCs makes it a hard sell for gamers seeking fluid gameplay, especially in graphics-intensive scenarios.

In the gaming realm, AI-driven upscaling and frame generation have surged ahead, surpassing even the quick uptake of UE5. Both AMD and Nvidia have jumped on this bandwagon, with Nvidia’s tech, though superior, tethered to their 40 series and beyond. As developers churn out ever more visually arresting games, hardware struggles to keep pace, buoyed by DLSS, FSR, and similar tools. In essence, studios appear to be chasing the Crytek-style technological marvels, seeking aesthetics only today’s high-end gear can muster, aided by these rendering shortcuts.

This tech-forward push mostly succeeds, showing great potential annually. My prowess with the 4070Ti attests to that. But despite these boosted capabilities, some games still reel with glitches. Disappointingly, UE5 frequently tops the list of culprits. The 2023 fiasco with Immortals of Aveum stands testament to this—with its lingering technical woes despite multiple patches and supportive tech like FSR3 and DLSS 3. This shaky stability isn’t isolated, as 2023’s Lords of the Fallen reboot shares similar wobbles, freezing unexpectedly and challenging players regardless of settings.

To spot a pattern, consult the insights offered by Digital Foundry, whose in-depth analysis leaves no room for doubt. Also, take a look at your own recent gaming endeavors and see if you’ve battled with performance woes. A notable exception I’ve found was Hellblade 2. It’s astonishingly smooth—likely owing to Ninja Theory’s meticulous attention to the game’s audiovisual finesse. Yet, being linear also helps minimize potential hiccups.

Looking forward to upcoming UE5 giants like Witcher’s next adventure, Mass Effect, and new Star Wars Jedi chapters, there’s an uneasy anticipation surrounding major studios opting to employ Epic’s engine. As promising as it looks in cutting-edge demos and isolated projects, it remains to be seen if it’ll shine in broader, real-world applications.

While Stalker 2 remains a glaring example of mishaps in UE5 land—surely some of it due to GSC Game World’s timings—I can’t help but recall the effortless grace with which Dragon Age: The Veilguard runs across varied hardware with its Frostbite engine, once labeled unsuitable outside FPS contexts. Have we been taken for a ride by Tim Sweeney’s vision? Time will tell.