Switching to Unreal Engine

When you’re ready for Unreal Engine, we’re ready to help.

We know it’s a big deal to change engines, but moving to Unreal Engine is easier than you might think. We’re here to help you learn the foundations, transition your projects, and get support from other devs who’ve made the switch—so you can get back to doing what you do best: building great games.

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The latest Unreal Engine news

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August 12, 2026

Download the latest Game Animation Sample Project—now updated for UE 5.8!

The Game Animation Sample Project is back with a brand-new update for Unreal Engine 5.8. Showcasing the latest and greatest in-engine animation features, this release includes new physics, motion matching, pose searching, and look-at features—and more.

Tech Blog

July 31, 2026

July’s Epic learning content: Animation, mobile game development, and more

This month’s Epic learning content includes tutorials on animation in Sequencer, performance capture with MetaHuman, and building destructible assets with Chaos—plus courses on using Unreal Engine to develop mobile games, customize characters, and more.

Learning

Feature overview

Unreal Engine comes with everything you need to build and ship successful multi-platform games. Get to know some of our features and see the difference they can make to your projects.

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One engine, everything included

With Unreal Engine 5, you don't need to worry about compatibility between package and engine versions, or between different packages: with a single download, you get every feature, including a unified state-of-the-art rendering pipeline. Plus, with access to the complete source code as well as intuitive Blueprint visual scripting, you can really make it your own.

Rendering pipeline

Source code

Blueprint visual scripting

Battle-tested in Epic’s own games

We’re constantly looking to differentiate Unreal Engine 5 with cutting-edge technology like Lumen and Nanite—and we put the features through their paces on our own games like Fortnite before we hand them over to you, already production-tested. And because we’re game developers too, we’re always motivated to keep up with industry-standard tech like FSR 2.0, DLSS 3, and DX12.

Lumen dynamic global illumination

Nanite virtualized geometry

Niagara VFX

MetaSounds

The help you need to make the jump

Even if you’re new to game development, you don’t need to start with a blank page. Unreal Engine 5 comes with templates for both first- and third-person games; sample games that you can dissect, learn from, and reuse; and easy access to high-quality assets like Quixel Megascans and MetaHumans. Plus, there are friendly forums, useful tips, and hundreds of hours of free learning content on the Epic Developer Community.

Templates

Sample games

Forums

Learning

Documentation

Epic Online Services

Online services for all devs, whatever your engine

Epic Online Services is a set of out-of-the-box services for crossplay, multiplayer, accounts, and more. Originally created to power Fortnite, our online services today equip game developers to freely distribute their games across platforms, connect to a massive user social graph, and streamline operations without building extensive infrastructure.

And if you’re a Unity developer, these services are free to use—even if you don’t make the switch to Unreal Engine.

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Switching to Unreal Engine success stories

Subnautica 2

Discover how a solitary survival hit evolved into a shared experience with fresh creatures and co-op.

Unknown Worlds

Infinity Nikki

Explore how developer Infold Games took Nikki from the display window to a vast, whimsical open world.

Infold Games

Black State

Find out how Motion Blur used UE5 to bring stunningly lifelike visuals to Black State.

Motion Blur

Squirrel with a Gun

Discover how Eddie Izzard, Unreal Engine, and a floofy tail brought Squirrel with a Gun to life.

Dee Dee Creations

Ready to switch? Let’s get started.

You might be surprised about how much of your existing knowledge can be applied to an Unreal Engine workflow. Get up to speed quickly with these learning resources from the Epic Developer Community.

Tutorials & talks

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Your First Hour in Unreal Engine

Follow along with this course to learn the high-level basics of UE5 by making a very simple 3D Plaformer game from start to finish.

Switching to Unreal Engine

Made in collaboration with Enduring Games, this tutorial series is designed for Unity developers considering the switch to Unreal Engine.

Unity to Unreal Engine Transition: Workflows for Mobile Development

This UE Fest Bali session breaks down the key differences in developing for mobile versus other platforms.

Documentation

Whether you’re an artist, a designer, or a programmer, our comprehensive documentation has you covered.

Unreal Engine for Unity Developers

Unreal Engine for New Users

Understanding the Basics

Working with Content

Programming with C++

Setting Up Your Production Pipeline

See all documentation

Sample projects

Samples are pre-built projects designed to help you quickly learn and get working in Unreal Engine without needing to start from scratch. Download, play, deconstruct, and make them your own.

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Stack O Bot

The perfect starting point for new developers, the Stack O Bot sample game is designed to be a great learning resource.

Parrot Game Sample

This 2.5D pirate-themed platformer game sample is available as both Unity and Unreal Engine versions for you to compare.

Content Examples

This project’s stations showcase specific UE5 features, including animation, audio, Blueprints, Landscapes, materials, physics, and more.

Cropout

Cropout is a sample top-down casual RTS game that introduces best
practices for building a project designed for cross-platform release.

Licensing

We’ve streamlined our license terms to make your choices clearer. Need something designed just for you? Work with us to create a custom license. Visit our FAQ or reach out to the community if you have any questions.

Under $1 million USD in revenue?

Free

Game developers (royalties apply after $1 million USD gross product revenue)
Individuals and small businesses (with less than $1 million USD in annual gross revenue)
For educators and schools (no revenue limits)

Access to the source code
All platforms & features
Forums and documentation on the Epic Developer Community

Download now View FAQ Licensing Terms

Over $1 million USD in revenue?

Royalty-based

If you're creating a game or application that relies on engine code at runtime and will be licensed to third party end users, you'll pay royalties and won't be required to purchase seats.

Seat-based

If you're using Unreal Engine for commercial purposes, have generated more than $1 million in the past 12 months, and are not creating a game or application that relies on engine code at runtime and will be licensed to third party end users, then a seat license fee is required.

Unreal Engine is just the beginning.

With Unreal Engine, you don’t just get powerful creative tools. You also have access to an entire ecosystem to publish, operate, and collect revenue from your game.

Self-publishing tools

Now open to all developers and publishers, start distributing PC games on the Epic Games Store with our self-service publishing tools.

Learn more

Epic Online Services

These free cross-platform services make it easier and faster for devs to successfully launch, operate, and scale high-quality games.

Learn more

Launching for console?

There’s no fee or cost related to using Unreal Engine on a console but you’ll need platform holder approval to access the necessary SDKs.

Get access

Notification of release

When the time comes to release your title, please fill in the release form and let us know a little about yourself and your game.

Submit details

Reporting royalties

When your game starts generating revenue, you’ll need to track gross revenue and pay a 5% royalty after $1 million USD.

Submit royalties

Looking to use the Unreal Engine logo in your project? Access our brand guidelines and logos here.

Developer Community

Learn new things. Connect with people like you. ⁠⁠Join the Epic Developer community.

Tutorials

Tutorials and courses to develop your skills.

Documentation

Complete resources for learning Unreal Engine

Sample Projects

Explore Unreal with a range of example content

Snippets

Chunks of code or script you can use in your project.

Forums (114 posts / week)

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Need help?

Connect with creators across industries and around the globe. Share everything from shortcuts to snippets to secret shader tricks. When you use Unreal Engine, you’re never alone—our community of hundreds of thousands of developers is here to support you as you bring your idea to life.

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Ask and answer questions; show off your work and get inspiration from others.

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