Xbox Head Phil Spencer Talks Unreal Engine 5

Epic's Unreal Engine 5 was announced with a tech demo running on PlayStation 5, and it looked very impressive. In addition to PS5, the new engine supports Xbox Series X, and now two of the top executives at Xbox have weighed in with their responses to the announcement of the new tech.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer said, "Incredible work by the team at Epic." He added that "many" of the internal Xbox Game Studios teams are using versions of Unreal Engine to make their games, including Ninja Theory, which is using the technology--but he didn't say Unreal Engine 5 specifically--to develop Senua's Saga: Hellblade II. Spencer added that Microsoft is "excited to bring these Unreal Engine 5 innovations to life on Xbox Series X."

We do know that Unreal Engine 5's Lumens and Nanite technology--used for lighting and geometry, respectively--do work on Xbox Series X. This information was shared by Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney on Twitter. Given the power packed into Microsoft's system, it shouldn't come as a surprise, but we've yet to see it in action on the console.

Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg, meanwhile, stated that the Unreal Engine 5 reveal was "super impressive." He added, "Can only imagine what the new Unreal Engine 5 Engine will look like on the world's most powerful console.

The PS5 tech demo, called "Lumen in the Land of Nanite," is not a real game, but it was actually playable. Epic had planned to bring it to the Game Developers Conference in March to allow people to play for themselves, according to IGN, but the show was eventually canceled.

Epic's Unreal Engine 4 was recently updated to support PS5 and Xbox Series X development, which is what studios will use until Unreal Engine 5 releases in full in 2021. That being the case, it might take some time before studios are able to fully harness the power of the new technology in their games. Epic's own Fortnite will make the shift to Unreal Engine 5 in 2021.