Despite some reservations, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney remains optimistic that the path to an open metaverse will converge the entertainment, gaming, and technology sectors into a vibrant future.
To achieve their goals, Sweeney argues that individuals must prioritize their own enlightened self-interest. During our live and recorded video fireside chat, he discussed these topics with me at the sold-out event in San Francisco, which was broadcasted immediately afterwards.
Sweeney, a vocal advocate for the gaming industry, has been pushing major platforms like Google and Apple to offer more favorable terms to game developers. He argues that the industry cannot afford to invest in the metaverse or its future while these companies take a 30% cut of every mobile game transaction. At our event, Sweeney joins a diverse array of audio systems discussing the metaverse, the future of video games, and innovative technologies. While he’s the one engaging in contentious legal battles that challenge the tech and sports industries to operate transparently. He’s decidedly upbeat about the advancements being made in regulatory and antitrust initiatives.
As he noted during our conversation, we’re making a marked shift. After embarking on this journey, many individuals in 2020 speculated about the future possibilities of these devices as open platforms following the launch of our Free Fortnite marketing campaign and our subsequent aggressive litigation against Apple and Google. But instead of grandly declaring ourselves architects of a new reality, let’s humbly acknowledge that we’re merely taking small steps towards reshaping the world to suit our own humble needs.
Epic Games has experienced a significant increase in its financial valuation over the past year, a stark contrast to 12 months ago when the company was forced to make the difficult decision to lay off several employees due to economic constraints. During the past year, Sweeney noted that the corporation devoted its efforts to rebuilding and revitalization. Epic Games’ Fortnite hit an all-time high of 110 million monthly active users during the peak holiday season, with CEO Tim Sweeney reporting that the Epic Games Store is also experiencing record-breaking success.
Although he acknowledges that returning Fortnite to the official stores on Apple and Google’s platforms has had limited success, he observes that the 15-plus verification questions imposed by the platforms have deterred around 10 million of the 20 million would-be players from completing their attempts. Since Sweeney last addressed our event in 2021, we’ve had the opportunity to conduct interviews with him at events such as the Game Developers Conference. Recently, I posed a range of questions to him during our fireside chat.
We discussed his perspectives on the path to the open metaverse, Fortnite’s expanded user-generated content capabilities, Microsoft’s adoption of Unreal Engine 5 for Halo, Epic’s new Fab store for 3D assets from multiple engine suppliers, legal efforts to globalize Fortnite, the role of platforms (dubbed “monopoly lease collectors” in the open metaverse), Epic’s and its mission to build a Disney universe tied to Fortnite, AI’s impact on game development, and Unreal Engine 6’s potential advancements in gaming.
As Sweeney envisions it, Unreal Engine 6 may enable the simultaneous presence of thousands of players within an almost seamless infrastructure, potentially leading to epic battle royale matches where countless gamers collaborate or clash in real-time. The metaverse’s true potential lies in harnessing this innovative knowledge. The next iteration of Unreal Engine, version 6, promises to combine the advancements of its predecessor, Unreal Engine 5, with the user-generated content (UGC) focused innovations of Unreal Editor for Fortnite.
As he delved into the nuances of Metcalfe’s Law, named after pioneering network theorist Bob Metcalfe, he emphasized the profound significance of “greater than,” highlighting how the value of a community or social expertise directly correlates with the number of connections one can make. As the phenomenon of metaverse-like collaborations between manufacturers within Fortnite continues to gain traction, it’s intriguing to consider how these integrations might expand not only the game’s audience but also the reach of participating brands themselves? Sweeney does not shy away from controversy, and he tackles questions without hesitation. As he persists in providing guidance to the construction crew, Sweeney enables them to anticipate and prepare for upcoming challenges on the streets ahead.
Right, here’s the edited transcript of our interview. Watch a video presentation on the topic.
: That is Dean Takahashi. As the lead author for Gamesbeat at VentureBeat. Here’s a revised version: I’m thrilled to be joined by Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games, as we explore the journey towards an open metaverse – a subject that has fascinated us for over 15 years now.
The phenomenon’s ebb and flow are fascinating. Thirty years ago, author Neil Stephenson aptly predicted this trend, underscoring its enduring relevance. It leaves me with a rather nostalgic feeling. When we last spoke, Tim, our conversation revolved around the open metaverse in 2021 and how it would necessitate enlightened self-interest from major corporations. What has changed and remained constant over the past three years?
As various companies collaborate on coding and content contributions for Fortnite and other metaverse platforms, their willingness to form unconventional alliances speaks volumes about their adaptability. The massive convergence of iconic Star Wars and Marvel franchises within the popular battle royale game, Fortnite. Sony and Microsoft are collaborating to bring exclusive gaming content into Fortnite’s virtual world. Who dares to combine the iconic symbols of intergalactic warfare (Halo) with those of mythological combat (God of War)? The Spartan’s noble mark, featuring the shield of the Forerunners, is juxtaposed with Kratos’ mighty sigil, bearing the visage of the Olympian gods.
Major music labels concur to integrate their discographies into Fortnite, reigniting fascination with music through the platform’s immersive audio features, including the popular Jam Stage mode. The movie and TV industries have found it invaluable and beneficial to participate in crossovers, as content seamlessly integrates into Fortnite. Gamers unacquainted with filmmaking may unexpectedly develop an interest in the cinematic medium as a result of Fortnite’s influence, leading them to engage with movies. Clients who have not previously played Fortnite are attracted to the game, leading to a surge in user engagement and benefits for everyone involved.
While prioritizing self-interest, how do you truly feel about everyone else’s pursuits in the open metaverse?
It’s curious that traditional media companies – encompassing film, television, and music industries – have proven to be significantly more receptive to collaboration compared to established sports developers. While some sports firms may see themselves as building a competitive barrier or “moat,” they often engage in a modern-day version of medieval-style warfare, characterized by strategic maneuvering and tactical execution. Armies clash as they storm each other’s strongholds, fiercely protecting their own territories from invasion.
As media companies have come to realize the significant benefits of fostering connections between diverse worlds and audiences in ways that truly amplify their collective impact. The trend towards increased curiosity among sports developers appears to be gaining momentum. As we continue to advance our capabilities, we’re also developing multiple Unreal Engine solutions to enable various organizations to seamlessly integrate with the growing open metaverse.
Currently, our true metaverse core has been built within Fortnite, yielding some impressive results albeit confined solely to this platform thus far. Our primary objective for the next few years is to gradually shift a growing portion of these innovations into Unreal Engine as it transitions from Unreal Engine 5 to Unreal Engine 6.
Epic’s flagship retailer for immersive 3D products
Epic has introduced Fab, a marketplace where creators and builders can discover, buy, sell, and share digital assets. Let’s discuss the launch details.
There are two significant concerns impeding sports development: The sheer quantity of programming and coding work required to achieve growth is immense. As we develop more sophisticated instruments and software tools, our capabilities increase accordingly. While truly crucial for numerous developers today is generating high-quality content that resonates with their audience. Within the industry, digital talent of exceptional caliber has traditionally come at a premium price or has been extremely costly. Constructing an extensive array of equipment necessary for a sport can be exorbitantly expensive.
By deploying a wide range of strategic investments that streamline the process of content creation, we aim to simplify and reduce costs for individuals, both by enhancing their productivity and fostering a thriving market. Fab is a cutting-edge central marketplace that caters to an extensive range of professionals, including developers using Unreal Engine, Unity, or Godot, as well as creatives from the game, film, TV, automotive, architecture, and other industries.
We curate the globe’s most exceptional content offerings into a versatile storefront, providing seamless access to customers seeking to utilize this premium material through sales and licensing arrangements. Here’s the improved text: The value proposition is that buying a license to pre-existing content can reduce the cost of scaling up by 100-fold, eliminating the need to create everything from scratch. While individual developers create unique content defining their game’s intellectual property and characters, I posit that approximately 90% of the content in most video games can be likened to rocks and bushes – elements that can be shared across programs with the goal of incrementally adding capabilities for greater versatility.
Will the metaverse feature a singular, universally accessible library of digital assets and experiences, seamlessly integrating disparate platforms and creators?
The discovery of Unity-based content within this market leads me to speculate whether it’s merely a precursor to something more expansive. As we continue to explore the concept of virtual reality and its potential impact on our daily lives, it’s interesting to consider how this technology could fit into a larger framework for understanding and navigating our digital selves.
The gaming industry, having stagnated in recent years, still relies on outdated practices where every individual game exists as a standalone downloadable file, often requiring manual installation on one’s computer or device. To access the service, you must first log in using an existing account or create a brand new one by registering for a fresh account. Discovering a diverse range of partners in each sport, unique to each developer, proves to be nothing short of frustratingly tedious.
Collectively integrating these elements is crucial, with each engine leveraging a distinct aspect of the overall strategy. While a sports car’s engine may seem unrelated to an internet browser in the metaverse at first glance, there are some intriguing parallels that can be drawn between the two. Here’s an improved version:
“A sports game engine serves as the foundation for delivering immersive gaming experiences, enabling seamless connectivity to various server platforms and leveraging diverse technological frameworks to facilitate engaging gameplay.” In the years to come, we may witness the emergence of immersive, dwell video gaming experiences. Carried out on open requirements, gamers using Unreal-based browsers or Unity-based browsers could seamlessly engage with games, enabling a decoupling of content from the underlying platform, thereby streamlining development and enhancing overall user experience.
By adopting this approach, the cost savings could be substantial in driving sports growth, as maintaining a single platform is exponentially less expensive and painful compared to supporting seven different platforms.
Shipping content directly into Fortnite is significantly easier when building standalone assets using the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) tools, as it eliminates the need for additional processing steps. A novel economic system has emerged, proving surprisingly lucrative for content creators. Yet, consider the potential implications of this technique being scaled exponentially, ultimately leading to a proliferation of metaverse-style gaming experiences across the board.
You’ll find every facility and all the options within Unreal Engine and comparable engines seamlessly integrated into these experiences, eliminating the need to install a new map or make new friends. Instead, voice chat, examine, and other features are readily available as you navigate from place to place alongside your friends.
As you navigate this eclectic mix of Unity, Minecraft, Roblox, and UEFN assets, the integration may initially seem unconventional, bringing together seemingly disparate elements into a unified whole. It’s even more bizarre that you might potentially use them interchangeably in the very same video games.
Prior to the widespread adoption of the internet as a consumer tool, several online data providers existed. I recall the early days of online services, when America Online (AOL) and CompuServe were among the dominant players, each with their proprietary graphical user interfaces that revolutionized the way we interacted with the internet.
And it was tremendous archaic. Gaming’s evolution is now palpable, as innovations make the experience increasingly cutting-edge. For some individuals, it’s undoubtedly simpler not having had to navigate a setup and arrangement process multiple times, relearn controls every time, and undertake all the additional tasks.
We’re working to simplify and expand the reach of our social gaming features, making it easier for more people to invite friends to join them across various platforms. Let’s boost sport development for greater economic efficiency. For builders, serving as a means to construct almost as well as they are capable of? They leveraged their initial $300 million financial allocation by reusing existing knowledge, content, and expertise to scale down their finances, opting for incremental development rather than starting from scratch.
Fortnite’s creative freedom will finally be unshackled.
While the metaverse may not be imminent, your crusade for an open platform is already underway; after all, it’s only been a few months since the global launch of the Epic Games Store on both Android and iOS in the EU. How’s all of it going?
We’re successfully tackling a significant workload and making progress. While the results are less than expected, there’s definitely cause for optimism. Up until now, approximately 20 million customers have visited our website in an effort to establish their own store. More than 10 million players reached the milestone by downloading the game through the Epic Games Store on both iOS and Android platforms?
: Wow.
Apple and Google’s sneaky tactic involves displaying alarmist warning messages stating, “This app, the Epic Games Store, originates from an unidentified developer.” We don’t know who they’re. And it’d hurt your machine.’
Despite knowing the statement to be untrue. They know who we’re. They undoubtedly do so by this point. To ensure that users are aware their machines will not be harmed by using our software? Despite their initial intentions to merely inform, these programs suddenly present a slew of frightful warnings and inject fictional elements.
To compile an inventory of the essential steps, we’ve identified the 15 key actions required to install the Epic Games Store on your Android device. And it’s actually horrible.
Additionally, Samsung has augmented its offering by including five more features. Now there’s 20 steps. And these high-stakes court battles will be pivotal, as we take on companies employing misleading and unfair customer tactics to undermine their competitors. Regulations are set to become more stringent, with regulators taking swift action.
The sheer scale of ongoing antitrust cases against Google worldwide is daunting to track accurately. The European Union has issued key regulations to tackle this issue, with similar legislation set to come into effect in the UK next year, as well as in Japan and numerous other countries.
We’re turning the tide. As our initiative gained momentum in 2020, following the launch of our pioneering Free Fortnite marketing campaign, a significant shift took place: Apple and Google faced aggressive litigation from us, prompting widespread contemplation about the future possibilities of these devices as open platforms. We’ve finally reached a depth worthy of remaking the world beneath our own standards. As policymakers globally strive to achieve this goal. Global market dynamics demand that native and international competitors coexist harmoniously.
It’s remarkable to witness the momentum gained by open platforms in achieving regulatory traction, thereby paving a clear path forward for the metaverse. Don’t we already have too many gatekeepers in our lives, stifling creativity and limiting potential? Must the metaverse, this supposedly boundless digital realm, also be shackled by intermediaries or platforms that control what we can see, do, and share? Can’t we just… skip all that noise and create something new, unencumbered by middlemen? In a fully decentralized and interconnected open metaverse, their role would likely evolve to focus on facilitating seamless experiences across diverse platforms.
The system should operate similarly to a standard Windows interface. You acquire a tool; your upfront payment covers the machine, which secures an operational system license. As you personalize the device, it becomes yours, granting you freedom to utilize it as needed without incurring recurring fees from Apple and Google each time you update or acquire new content.
Eradicating taxes while supporting high-quality curation and anti-malware initiatives is the primary objective. They will occupy a pivotal role within the ecosystem. They have flagrantly exceeded their authority to accumulate unwarranted profits, which they do not merit and ought not to claim.
If we reestablish the open platform for delivery and implement sustainable practices, we’ll create an economically viable and environmentally conscious system. The consequences of a skewed economic system are starkly evident when 30% of the highest earners’ income is siphoned off, rendering it challenging to gauge just how severely an economy veers from its intended path. The world of gaming has become increasingly aggressive in recent years.
Fewer than one percent of sports game developers, including Epic Games, achieve a remarkable 30% profit margin from their respective sport’s revenue streams, which is an exceptional feat. As discounts reach 30%, they’re devastating the builders’ ability to generate profits and reinvest them in growth, essentially crippling their business’s potential for expansion. However, it’s also compelling developers to increase their customer prices since if you’re earning less than a 30% profit margin and you have to pay a 30% tax, you’ve got to raise your value or risk exiting the business entirely?
As the metaverse evolves beyond established hits like Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft, a lucrative revenue stream will emerge from immersive experiences and gamified services that tap into users’ desires for social interaction, entertainment, and self-expression.
I invite you to examine the comprehensive digital sports economy, considering implications for proponents of the metaverse or Metcalfe’s Law theory. As the gaming landscape evolves, players are increasingly drawn to vast experiences comprising multiple interconnected games, fostering a sense of community where they can seamlessly transition between experiences with like-minded companions.
With integrated voice chat capabilities and bolstered by advanced social intelligence. For those who subscribe to Metcalfe’s Law dynamics driving social media, web growth, and almost every exponential progress curve involving people – for those who consider this – it is logical to infer that within the next 15 years, say, the metaverse and similar experiences will likely account for the vast majority of gaming industry revenue.
As the nascent mobile industry emerged, forecasts suggested that cellular devices might eventually surpass PCs and consoles in terms of adoption and influence. While initially deemed irrational, a profound transformation has indeed taken place, marking an irreversible milestone in personal growth. I firmly believe that technological advancements are steadily propelling us toward a future where the metaverse becomes an integral part of our reality. The nuances of Metcalfe’s Regulation, intricately tied to the social dynamics that elevate its impact and create a more satisfying experience.
What’s behind Halo’s switch to Unreal Engine 5?
As the gaming landscape evolves in 2024, Microsoft’s unexpected move to shift Halo to Unreal Engine sends a significant signal: the era of engine loyalty is waning, and developers are increasingly embracing versatility over proprietary ties. This seismic shift underscores the growing importance of flexibility in an industry where innovation, speed, and collaboration are key drivers of success. We’re all aware that it’s arduous, but what else is being conveyed effectively here?
So, Halo Studios’ team of developers boasts some of the most skilled professionals in the industry. Microsoft boasts top-tier game development studios harnessing the power of Unreal Engine to craft exceptional video games. As the industry landscape continues to evolve, I think we’re witnessing a fundamental shift in the dynamics at play. In the early years, companies with lucrative revenue streams often built their own engines, maintaining a dedicated team to oversee operations.
In the early stages, this small group of individuals had formed. Following which 30 engineers, following which 300 engineers? As costs escalate for engine development, companies are increasingly finding it less economical to invest in duplicating others’ work by maintaining their own in-house capabilities.
And we’ve seen it. We invested heavily in a sustained and significant funding drive, ultimately achieving lasting results. As Fortnite’s popularity surged, Epic Games redirected a significant portion of its revenue back into refining Unreal Engine, enhancing its performance, and expanding its feature set with numerous innovative tools and capabilities.
Innovations such as Nanite’s micro-polygon geometry, Lumen’s groundbreaking technology for virtually unlimited lighting options, and the introduction of mega-lights and metahuman capabilities have opened up new avenues in creative expression.
The proliferation of numerous problems stems from making investments that defy logic, even for industry giants like Microsoft or Electronic Arts. Given the constraints of being a single writer catering to personal desires, it’s challenging to rival Epic in providing our expertise to the vast majority of high-end gaming industry stakeholders.
As a developer, the fear is likely that by switching to a standard sports engine, your game might become indistinguishable from others in the same genre, potentially losing its unique identity and creative edge? There was likely some hesitancy among them. Should we really take the plunge?
Given the advancements made in computer graphics over the past decade, it’s surprising that a real-time rendering of an engine’s inner workings wasn’t possible until recently – a glance at an engine in Unreal Engine, for instance, might have taken 3 days to achieve ten years ago, mainly due to limitations in lighting algorithms and other technical hurdles. A surge in creative energy propels content producers forward, driving innovative ideas and engaging storytelling. You’ve got shaders that might introduce radically different visual types. You’ve got every kind of stylization expertise built into those pages. A versatile digital art software with a vast range of capabilities, enabling users to create various types of artworks, from photorealistic illustrations to 3D models, 2D animations, and even concept art for games like Fortnite.
In this era, the engine’s design no longer dramatically influences the aesthetic appeal of a sports car. Without Unreal Engine’s specific capabilities in mind, it seems unclear what exactly you’re trying to convey about its limitations. However, if we interpret your statement as a general remark on game engines, we could rephrase it as follows:
Unreal Engine can produce high-quality results that are comparable to or even exceed those achievable with other voxel-based game engines, given the capabilities of the underlying hardware.
Are we edging closer to the metaverse’s virtual reality?
: Undoubtedly. Upon reviewing the entire situation, significant advancements have been made in Fortnite’s development and features. Transforming from an independent creative hub into a robust economic ecosystem, it has already invested over $500 million in developers, with ambitious plans to allocate even more resources as its growth trajectory continues to accelerate.
A newly created scripting language, dubbed Verse, has been designed specifically for the metaverse by Epic. possesses a rapidly evolving suite of powerful APIs that drive its efficacy to new heights. And that’s on Epic’s facet. On Roblox’s side, there has been a substantial increase in the platform’s user base. Their instruments are getting higher. As their creators continue to navigate the complexities of game development, they have begun to incorporate a growing number of nuanced problems into the gameplay experience.
In every world, a nuanced creator economy is thriving, with influential individuals forming companies that flourish under their guidance. You now possess extremely rare and highly specialized skills. In a bygone era, there existed a single individual who bore sole responsibility for the entire operation. As specialized expertise on a 30-member sports development team is emerging in this instance. As they ascend the food chain.
Startups that focus on innovative solutions are attracting significant investments from enterprise capitalists. Some are merging. There are specialised contract outlets. A thriving {industry} could actually take root in that area. At our annual Unreal Fest, we marked a significant milestone by introducing the Unreal Editor for Fortnite within our existing creator economy ecosystem last year? Several exceptional creatives took the stage. Thus, entrepreneurs have been striving to build successful businesses. We successfully completed our project this year.
A significant change will become evident. Significant increases in group size, substantial funding investments. People attending were incentivized to bring others by receiving swag as confirmation of their attendance. As you watch, a tangible economic framework will take shape. Traders with diverse portfolios have invested in creators, providing the necessary funding and development support for these entrepreneurs.
Professional builders differentiate themselves by offering a range of services to publishers, providing various types of support, including advertising solutions for their clients.
The phenomenon is indeed unfolding at a considerable scale. The estimated monthly active users across various platforms could range from approximately 700 to 800 million, with a potential seven, eight or nine metaverse-like experiences emerging through the development of gaming ecosystems, such as PUBG Mobile’s evolving metaverse-inspired approach, which may be followed by others in the industry.
The AI query
How do you envision the future of AI-enabled entertainment, particularly in relation to games that simulate immersive experiences like Fortnite, and what advancements would be necessary to bring about a seamless transition into the metaverse?
Artificial intelligence is advancing at a breathtaking rate, poised to revolutionize every aspect of our lives and fundamentally transform the way we operate over the next decade. Components will come online at varying timescales, each one demonstrating its value at a distinct moment. The pace of technological advancements in both 2D art and text-based content has been nothing short of astounding.
Artificial intelligence is evolving into a highly effective tool for learning, surpassing traditional methods such as reading through textbooks or browsing Wikipedia, and even surpassing online forums where students can post questions and answers. The technology is rapidly advancing in its capacity to generate complex code, with the potential to revolutionize the way we approach education and professional development. It’s good at it. Artificial intelligence (AI) significantly assists in coding technologies, particularly at an instructional level. This comprehensive guide assists in learning and absorbing new API sets, facilitating seamless onboarding and streamlining the learning process.
However, this approach is unlikely to address laborious problems effectively, let alone resolve them, unless they have been thoroughly tackled and resolved numerous times beforehand. And it’s simply reconstructing that. Despite advancements in 2D asset technologies like Picture AI, Dali, and Secure Diffusion, their pace has yet to be replicated in the 3D realm. While there’s been impressive 3D voxel work, it remains significantly faster, albeit at a lower quality scale.
However, to compete with top-tier sports franchises or Fortnite, it’s essential to produce assets at the level of Quixel Megascans. A realistic timeframe of approximately three years could apply. When such instances arise, you will likely look for creators capable of producing high-quality content by visiting Fab or acquiring pre-existing materials from various companies’ AI platforms, thereby significantly reducing the project’s costs and complexity.
On a personal level, each individual’s unique characteristics are considered, as well as their composite features that define them as a whole. To craft a city that embodies the essence of artistic expression, I envision a metropolitan tapestry woven from diverse threads of creativity. The metropolis, dubbed “Elysium,” would be a vibrant oasis where artistry and innovation converge. As a sports designer, I must revamp the landscape and craft thrilling game scenarios, ensuring each experience is unique and captivating. As the sport director, strategic decisions and creative vision will still require human intuition and expertise.
We’re quite detached from it. At Epic, we eschew secrets and instead rely on collaboration and transparency to drive innovation. We lack a comprehensive framework to explain how these disparate elements will ultimately harmonize with one another. As AI begins to leverage tools to expand its capabilities? As you start feeding AI-generated code into a compiler, you’ll receive error messages that will prompt you to fix bugs.
It’s not superb but. As artificial intelligence becomes proficient in utilizing tools and instruments, every individual or organization possessing a device or software program seeks to train AI to leverage their proprietary technology. Reconfigure interface modules of instruments to align seamlessly with AI learning protocols, enabling machines to absorb and execute instructions efficiently, while producing vast volumes of training data accordingly. As soon as AI can learn to understand instruments, I believe the sky’s the limit on what we’ll accomplish.
Will we receive everything more quickly than anticipated? Will the metaverse’s arrival bring with it a wave of transformative change or simply another layer of digital disruption in our lives?
As technology has advanced, each major breakthrough has spawned a novel genre of video games, exemplified by the meteoric rise of battle royale style gameplay. This is arguably one of the most exceptional shooter modes ever conceived. Due to Brendan Fraser’s enthusiasm for the 2000 Japanese film Battle Royale, he was inspired to incorporate its innovative storytelling style into his work. This innovative sport mode was unimaginable just 15 years ago.
Computer systems and consoles have struggled with sluggish performance for far too long. To immerse players in a vast, open-world environment where up to 100 gamers coexist and thrive, creating a dynamic, real-life experience that simulates the rush of adrenaline and camaraderie. As a result of this growth in expertise, novel challenges are likely to emerge. I envision the emergence of novel capacities, accompanied by a proliferation of incremental advancements.
Artificial Intelligence systems harness vast amounts of energy to power numerous applications. If we enhance the productivity of game development teams or the economy in which they operate by a factor of 10 or 100, we would immediately witness the emergence of entirely new types of games that could not have been conceived previously. It’s unlikely that even a team of 200 experts could develop Skyrim within a timeframe as short as six months. Perhaps this technological advancement will become a reality within the next decade.
Indeed, your battle royale might just consist of thousands of players? A lot bigger.
: Oh, yeah. Despite significant advancements in artificial intelligence, there are still numerous pressing matters to address outside its realm. One significant obstacle hindering Unreal Engine’s performance since its inception is the fact that many core components remain single-threaded, mirroring the gameplay logic.
Written by countless programmers at breakneck speed, this code proves challenging when attempting to thread a single process or efficiently distribute it across numerous processors. While building an MMO requires significantly more effort per line of code than a typical game, with a factor of 10 or even 100 times greater, this endeavor is being undertaken at a glacial pace compared to regular video games. Therefore, we’re developing transactional memory technology that allows programmers to write code that appears to be single-threaded, but then automatically discovers the parallelism by executing it across multiple threads and nodes within a data center, thereby revealing the inherent parallelism for them.
While the majority of your game’s objects typically don’t engage in meaningful interactions. Those adept at speculative experimentation could potentially accelerate their pace by running multiple updates concurrently, identifying potential conflicts between them, and iteratively refining their approach as the game evolves.
Without unnecessarily complicating the coding coursework or exacerbating programmers’ lives. Significant increases in participant numbers, exceeding expectations by several orders of magnitude. Here are the improvements: As part of our strategic gamble on Unreal Engine 6, this is just one of the numerous massive bets we’re taking. While significant progress will likely require years, we’re committed to making substantial strides forward in this area.
The Disneyverse
So, you’ve announced a collaboration with Disney earlier this year to develop a fresh Disney-themed experience within the Fortnite universe. What’s your vision for our company’s future?
We’ve had a longstanding partnership with Disney for several years, dating back to Fortnite’s meteoric rise and our growing recognition of the potential to merge our intellectual property with theirs. Disney’s acquisition of Marvel and its various subsidiaries has proven to be an incredibly successful partnership.
To create an immersive Disney-centric experience within the metaverse, they will develop a proprietary model that is uniquely theirs, with Disney’s intellectual property at its core and under their direct ownership and control. We collaborated intensely on a partnership to develop the project jointly, effectively positioning Epic as the primary contractor building this comprehensive Disney ecosystem. As our understanding of this ecosystem continues to mature over time, we can expect significant transformations, including a potential bifurcation of the Fortnite brand into distinct entities: Disney-Fortnite and standalone Fortnite.
As we foster an increasingly interconnected and seamless economic ecosystem, we’re not simply building shared experiences, but also forging links that connect the dots between our economies. While beauty purchases in Disney or Fortnite may seem unrelated at first glance, surprisingly, any beauty merchandise bought in one platform is actually compatible with the other, allowing you to seamlessly apply your purchases across both the Disney and Fortnite experiences.
As participants invest in the system, their value is recognized within a constantly growing network. The driving force behind this concept lies in its fundamental essence. We’re leveraging this concept as a proof of idea to build an open metaverse.
To successfully transition from Unreal Engine 5 to Unreal Engine 6, our ultimate goal is to empower sports developers to seamlessly participate in the evolving open metaverse, a collaborative effort spearheaded by Disney and ourselves as pioneering partners. Can we have a truly open economy where every individual is free to operate their own market stall and share their unique offerings with the world?
Developers will leverage Unreal Engine or potentially transition to a custom-built engine that meets industry standards for interoperability.
Within a framework of readily shareable mannequins, as previously outlined for the Fortnite creator economy, we can leverage this innovative approach to dissect the economics of gaming across various ecosystems.
What will Unreal Engine 6 be is still a mystery, but we do know that Epic Games has already started working on the next-generation version of their popular game engine. With its predecessor being Unreal Engine 5, which was released in 2021 and brought with it significant improvements in graphics capabilities, physics simulations, and overall performance enhancements, fans are naturally curious about what’s in store for Unreal Engine 6.
The gaming industry has seen an unprecedented convergence of giants with Disney’s integration into Fortnite, while also featuring UEFN on the other side, sparking a new wave of innovative possibilities. The collective force of all user-generated content, a symphony of creative voices from every corner of the globe. These intriguing connections exist on both sides, in fact.
: Yeah, that’s proper.
One often overlooked issue in the industry is that when an organisation licenses Unreal Engine, it’s not just a matter of acquiring the necessary technology to power their game;
They are endeavouring to optimise the utilization of all available instruments. To create a robust consumer content material ecosystem, we replicated our own successful strategy. Since the dawn of modding in video games, distinct communities have successfully customized titles such as Ark: Survival Evolved and Unreal Tournament, laying the groundwork for a rich history spanning multiple decades.
As the tech behind it gets significantly more advanced with Unreal Engine 6, the impact will be substantial, allowing our existing work on Fortnite to scale exponentially and become even more robust within the Unreal Editor’s specialized toolkit. Metaverse APIs feature seamless interoperability, allowing for the integration of various scripting languages and the deployment of downloadable, modular content that functions flawlessly. These innovations will ultimately transform into conventional engine choices available to everyone.
Our goal is to support each developer in achieving the same level of success that Fortnite has enjoyed by building a game. If desired, we could also create a dynamic ecosystem where users can freely share and discover user-generated content within our game. Participate fully and actively within a globalized economy where we’re all players on the same team.
With Unreal Engine 6, we’ve discussed the convergence of Unreal Engine and Unreal Film Noir (UEFN). However, the idea of substantial networking enhancements yielding numerous additional gamers with similar expertise seems promising. Unreal Engine’s next-generation capabilities will undoubtedly play a significant role in shaping the future of virtual and augmented reality experiences, but whether UE6 is specifically considered the metaverse remains unclear. While it may serve as an essential tool for building immersive environments, the metaverse encompasses a broader concept that transcends any single technology or platform.
That’s the most significant obstacle our team is working to overcome with this innovation. As of our current knowledge, identified problems remain to be addressed. Breakthroughs in graphics often occur unexpectedly and seemingly without warning. To not render the final product that the team produces?
Despite its reputation for being a powerhouse game engine, the lesser-known fact is that Unreal Engine’s graphics and sound teams meticulously update the audio and visual systems to stay at the forefront of innovation with each new technological advancement. To ensure you obtain vastly enhanced alternatives within these spheres.
While many fundamental engine components have remained relatively unchanged since Unreal Engine’s early days, such as its networking, scripting layer, and file administration systems, they’ve evolved gradually over time through incremental improvements rather than a comprehensive overhaul to make them modern and sleek.
We’re undergoing one of several monumental processes with Unreal Engine 6, which involves updating vast quantities of our core technology to make it compatible with the metaverse – essentially transforming it into an engine that enables seamless interoperability between a wide range of experiences.
Thousands of independent developers and content creators publish their own modules of code and content, which will persist within the metaverse and be accessible to everyone, interoperating seamlessly so that in any given world or region, they can coexist and interact harmoniously.
You may be operating a vehicle designed by one individual and wielding a firearm manufactured by another, all while embodying the persona crafted by a third. Despite having no prior interaction, individuals adhering to standardized API guidelines ensure seamless integration, as their content continuously updates in tandem with evolving developments. As fresh insights emerge to illuminate our understanding of this subject. A world that never shuts down, but constantly evolves and enhances itself.
: Superior. You’re absolutely correct that I’m superior, Tim. Thanks very a lot.
: Thanks, Dean.
