Another version of Skyrim is here, as a fan remade some of the acclaimed RPGs in Unreal Engine 5.
Skyrim's Riverwood has been rebuilt on Epic Games' high-end engine, which is perfect fodder while we wait for The Elder Scrolls 6. The Redditor responsible shared his creation in a 5-minute video (seen by GamesRadar).
The clip walks through the classic Skyrim settlement, showing off some of its buildings and streets in stunning graphical fidelity. It then cuts to what appears to be the western watchtower at Whiterun, though this ruined outpost is much more detailed than you might be used to seeing.
The graphics upgrade is remarkably impressive. All textures are rendered at a higher resolution, lighting is sharper, and shadows are more striking. It certainly doesn't look like a game released for PS3 and Xbox 360. Check out the video below to see for yourself.
imagine_skyrim_remake_with_unreal_engine_5 from r/skyrima glimpse into the future
The video doesn't just serve as an impressive tech demo; it's an exciting vision of what gaming could one day look like. As developers become more familiar with Unreal Engine 5, its technical potential will only reach its limits.
However, it's unlikely we'll see an Elder Scrolls game like this anytime soon. Bethesda tends to use its in-house build engine to build its games. And while Starfield will use a new version of the software, we don't expect it to match the graphical potential of Unreal Engine 5.
Like fan-made projects like this show, Epic's recently released engine is leading the pack. In fact, it can produce renderings so realistic that a recent demo created with the software led viewers to believe they were actual images taken on a cell phone.
But while Bethesda may not jump on Unreal Engine 5, plenty of other developers do. CD Projekt Red previously announced that it was ditching its own REDengine in favor of Epic's software for The Witcher 4. The news came as a surprise to many, given how successfully the REDengine had been used to create the dynamic world of The Witcher 3. , but it shows how much the studio relies on technology.
Similarly, BioWare is using the engine to develop Mass Effect 4, putting another feather in Epic's game-building ceiling.
Don't expect these games to be as brilliant as this fan-made Skyrim project. As sprawling RPGs, they will have to sacrifice graphical fidelity for fast resource loading, high frame rates, and other player considerations. But the redditor demo certainly hints at what our favorite video games might look like one day.