Unreal Engine 5 early access is now available, including Nanite & Lumen tech
Epic Games claims Unreal Engine 5 isn't quite ready to use for production purposes, but developers can test its technology hands-on now.
One of the most anticipated bit of technology within the last year has been the development and rollout of Epic Games Unreal Engine 5 update. The new era of the Unreal Engine promises to be one of the most cutting edge development tools in video game and film media and the tech Epic is adding to it continues to promise some of the most visually stunning and adaptive tools we’ve seen. Well, now developers can begin to explore Unreal Engine 5’s tech for themselves. UE5 has entered early access, giving users the opportunity to get a feel for things like Nanite and Lumen.
Epic announced the early access rollout of Unreal Engine 5 during a special UE5 features and tools livestream on May 26, 2021. It during this livestream that we got another in-depth look at the application of polygonal tool Nanite and light and shadow effect tool Lumen in action. The gameplay demo shown during the livestream was impressive to say the least. Then Epic capped by revealing that Unreal Engine 5 was now available in early access via the Epic Games launcher and UE5 web page.
![Tools like Nanite and Lumen will be available for study and hands-on testing in Unreal Engine 5's early access rollout.](https://d1lss44hh2trtw.cloudfront.net/resize?type=webp&url=https%3A%2F%2Fshacknews-www.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fassets%2Feditorial%2F2021%2F05%2Funreal-engine-5-early-access-is-now-available-including-nanite-lumen-tech-tools.jpg&width=986&sign=3vx2STlr_eR_PgIp-z6_ydjKHU2d0MG2SO_lWyMlHaY)
When Epic Games says “early access,” they do mean “early access.” This version of Unreal Engine 5 apparently is nowhere near ready to be used for full-on development purposes. However, that shouldn’t keep would be devs from having the opportunity to toy about and learn a little bit more about what Unreal Engine 5’s tools can do in hands-on application.
With Unreal Engine 5’s early access rolled out the door, it will be interesting to see what users can do with it. Stay tuned as we await further details regarding a more final release and more from UE5 and Epic Games.
-
TJ Denzer posted a new article, Unreal Engine 5 early access is now available, including Nanite & Lumen tech