by Another version of Skyrim is here, as a fan has remade a portion of the acclaimed RPG in Unreal Engine 5.
Skyrim’s Riverwood has been rebuilt on Epic Games’ recently released top-of-the-line engine, which is perfect fodder while we wait for The Elder Scrolls 6. The Redditor maintainer 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 looks like the Western Watchtower in Whiterun, though this ruined outpost is much more detailed than you might be used to seeing.
The graphical upgrade is remarkably impressive. All textures are rendered at higher resolution, lighting is sharper and shadows are more impactful. It certainly doesn’t look like a game that was released for PS3 and Xbox 360. Check out the clip below to see for yourself.
imagining_skyrim_remake_with_unreal_engine_5 from r/skyrim
a 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 any Elder Scrolls games that look 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.
As fan-made projects like this show, Epic’s recently released engine is the best. In fact, it can produce such realistic renderings that a recent demo created with the software tricked viewers into thinking they were actual images taken with a mobile phone.
But while Bethesda might not be jumping on Unreal Engine 5, plenty of other developers are. CD Projekt Red previously announced that it will be 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 vibrant world of The Witcher 3. but it shows how much faith the studio is putting in the technology.
Similarly, BioWare is using the engine to develop Mass Effect 4, putting another feather on Epic’s game-making limit.
However, don’t expect those games to look as glossy as this fan-made Skyrim project. As RPGs expand, they will have to sacrifice graphical fidelity in favor of fast asset loading, high frame rates, and other player-facing considerations. But the redditor’s demo certainly hints at what our favorite video games may one day look like.
