# Unreal Engine 5
Confidence: high
Last verified: 2026-05-22
Generation: human_only


## TL;DR

Unreal Engine 5 (UE5, Epic Games, 2022) is a AAA game engine featuring Nanite (virtualized micropolygon geometry — billions of polygons without LODs), Lumen (fully dynamic global illumination), World Partition (automatic world streaming), and MetaHuman (realistic human characters). Free for indies (5% royalty after $1M revenue).

## Core Explanation

Blueprint visual scripting enables non-programmer game creation. C++ for performance-critical systems. Features: Niagara VFX (next-gen particles), Chaos Physics, Control Rig (animation), Movie Render Queue (cinematics). UE5 powers Fortnite, Hellblade II, Black Myth: Wukong. UE5.5 (2025) added MegaLights (dynamic area lights) and improved Nanite for skeletal meshes.

## Further Reading

- [undefined](undefined)