Switching to Unreal Engine

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

Switching to Unreal Engine header image

Switching to Unreal Engine header image

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.

Learn about licensing

Switching to Unreal Engine header image

Switching to Unreal Engine header image

The latest Unreal Engine news

News card

Introducing Career Connections: advice for job seekers in real-time creative industries

Designed for students and new grads, Career Connections brings together industry professionals, recruiters and experts to help you navigate the path into the industry as a real-time creator!

News card

Free Unreal Engine courses: animating MetaHumans, god rays, PCG tools, and more

Check out this month’s free Unreal Engine learning content and learn skills in everything from MetaHuman animation and procedural content generation to VR game development and visual effects.

News card

Civil Engine democratizes 3D visualization for transportation planning

When they saw that 3D visualization was out of reach for many civil engineering projects, Beyond CAD developed Civil Engine, an Unreal Engine-based tool for urban planning.

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.

See all features

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

Blueprint visual scripting

Selfloss screenshot

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

Unreal Engine 5 screenshot

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.

Layers of Fear screenshot

Epic Online Services

Online services for all devs, whatever your engine

EOS users

EOS users

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.

EOS users

EOS users

Switching to Unreal Engine success stories

Türkiye-based developer Motion Blur uses UE5 to bring photorealistic visuals to Black State

Get the inside scoop on how Motion Blur used UE5 to deliver Black State—a single-player, story-driven, action-adventure, third-person shooter with stunningly life-like visuals and influences ranging from Inception to The Matrix.

Motion Blur

Infold Games discuss switching to Unreal Engine to bring their bold vision for Infinity Nikki to life

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

Infold Games

Squirrel with a Gun evolved from quirky test video to Unreal Engine-powered light-hearted action game

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

Dee Dee Creations

Building a microscopic world of epic proportions with Empire of the Ants

After using Unity for previous projects, Tower Five switched to Unreal Engine to push the boundaries of photo-realistic plants and wildlife.

Tower Five

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

Your first hour in Unreal Engine

Your first Hour in Unreal Engine 5

Tutorial · 2yr ago

We’ll look at the launcher, Editor, creating a basic level including lighting and layout, and Blueprint.

Stack 'O' Bot screenshot

Your First Game in Unreal Engine 5

Learning path · 3yr ago

Dive into this practical in-editor demo showcasing UE5's rapid game creation from scratch.

BeginPlay

BeginPlay

Course · 3yr ago

Watch videos designed for developers who are transitioning from other engines like Unity.

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Documentation

Know what you want to do but not how? Dig into our wide range of documentation to find your footing

Know what you want to do but not how? Dig into our wide range of documentation to find your footing.

Unreal Engine for Unity Developers

Understanding the Basics

Working with Content

Programming and Scripting

Setting Up Your Production Pipeline

Go to Documentation

Sample projects

Use these templates available in Unreal Engine and Unreal Editor for Fortnite as foundations for building custom islands and experiences.

Stack 'O' Bot screenshot

Stack O’ Bot

Stack 'O' Bot is a small project that can be a good starting point for advanced beginners.

Unreal Engine content examples

Content Examples

Get up to speed with a variety of different techniques for building your own games.

Lyra Screenshot

Lyra Sample Game

A perfect starting point for those looking to jump right into Unreal Engine for game development.

Cropout screenshot

Cropout

A casual game sample that shows you best practices for creating cross-platform games.

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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.

Online Services

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

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.

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.

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.

Forums (451 posts / week)

Getting Started & Setup

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[request] synced content browser windows

Programming & Scripting

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GAS "CancelAbilitiesWithTags" I can't find this anywhere

Asset Creation

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Rebuild geometry in editor UE5.5.4

Character & Animation

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Why do my animations look jittery when played through a Montage versus directly through the Anim BP?

World Creation

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Why does this glass material not darken in shadow?

Rendering

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Why "CPU needs to first launch ALL possible shading bin dispatches" even after culled most of them?

Cinematics & Media

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Move several selected clips (those gray blocks) spread across different tracks and frames all at once.

Platform & Builds

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Play Games Services V2 Migration

Audio

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If I put an AudioCaptureComponent on an actor, it disappears when I restart it.

Pipeline & Plugins

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More resources

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.

Go to repository

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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.

Dev Community Forums

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

Unreal Source

Come hang out with us and our developer community on Discord.