Team Bloober talks about the challenges of being the first studio to launch a game on Unreal Engine 5

Bloober Team’s Layers of Fear franchise, Layers of Fear, will be getting a remake soon, and it’s set to launch in a few days. The game is notable for its use of Unreal Engine 5, being the first third-party title to launch a game on the new version of the Epic Games engine.

Speaking to the WCCFTech portal, programmer Krzysztof Kansy and art artist Michał Gawron talked about using Unreal Engine 5. According to them, working on this new version has proven to be very satisfactory, despite the challenges of adopting new technologies early on.

“Working in Unreal Engine 5 is very fast and fun. In the case of working speed, Lumen is a huge improvement. Thanks to it, we saw the effects immediately, without having to bake the lights for several hours.

Using new technology is always an exciting challenge. In a previous collaboration between Anshar Studios and Bloober Team on “Observer: System Redux”, we were among the first titles of the new console generation, so this isn’t the first time we’ve faced this challenge.

And as with previous cases of working with new technologies, there is a lot to learn, and a lot to plan and adjust as we go. And as always, there were things that went surprisingly well and shocks we didn’t expect. However, the overall experience was very satisfactory and we are pleased with the outcome.“

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Layers of Fear is currently using Unreal Engine version 5.1, but the studio hasn’t ruled out upgrading to version 5.2. However, they are still studying the possibility of immigration before making any announcements.

The game will feature Lumen technologies to create more realistic lights and shadows, enabling dynamic lighting that reacts to in-game events. Another new technology from Unreal Engine 5 is Nanite, but Layers of Fear won’t use it, as the studio claims it’s intended to help display the open world, and isn’t necessary for a linear game like Layers of Fear.

Layers of Fear arrives June 15, 2023 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S | X. The game will be a remake of the first two games in one package, as well as introducing an unprecedented campaign.