When Unreal Engine 5 was fully released, an accompanying playable demo called The Matrix Awakens showcased what this game engine can do in terms of making a next-gen game world. But soon, this demo will be gone.
unreal engine 5 matrix
And by "soon," we mean "really soon": July 9th, according to PlayStation Lifestyle. The demo, which was made available exclusively for the PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S, will be fully delisted. But if you already own it on the three consoles (and on PC via Unreal Engine 5 itself) you won't be losing access to it once it is delisted.
Epic Games didn't explicitly state the reason why the UE5 Matrix Awakens demo will be gone. But they did make it clear on release that it was always a temporary thing, and so that's why we're here.
Here is the original announcement trailer for it:
The trailer itself starts with Matrix star Keanu Reeves, who looked absolutely real - except he's not. The one presenting is just a full recreation of Reeves himself, made entirely using Unreal Enmgine 5. But was just a tease for so, so much more. And that became apparent with the release of the UE5 Matrix Awakens demo.
On the PS5, Xbox Series X, and Series S, the demo showed off what is possible when it comes to crafting truly next-gen games. The entire city itself looked extremely believable, with thousands of drivable cars, buildings, and NPCs looking photorealistic. The demo pushed the limits of what next-gen consoles can do. But when the demo came to PCs, its visuals were taken to a whole new level - something that made people dream of what video games could look like for this current generation and the next.
Here is a gameplay video of the Matrix Awakens demo running on a PC with an RTX 3090. Feast your eyes on truly next-gen visuals:
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The Immense Potential Of Unreal Engine 5
The Matrix Awakens is just one display of the immense game development potential of Unreal Engine 5. And sure enough, numerous fans and developers immediately went to work crafting their own demos, which included next-gen reimaginings of older games - some of which going viral and earning millions of views.
We at GameNGuide have reported on a few of these demos in recent times. Among them is a fan-made demo of the Resident Evil 4 remake, which is a different take on how the game itself would look like had Capcom decided to use a different engine. The project was created by independent graphics design studio Teaser Play, who's actually already made other UE5 recreations of old games like GTA 3, Red Dead Revolver, and Need For Speed Most Wanted, among others.
Here's their RE4 demo:
Overall, there is a lot of positivity surrounding Unreal Engine 5, and it's not just triple-A developers that are excited; even indie devs are into the hype. As reported by IGN, the engine's Lumen lighting system, Nanite textures, and advancements in data and world streaming could open up for exciting development opportunities that were previously impossible with older engines.
It's a good era to be a gamer.
Related: Unreal Engine 5 Could Mean Amazing Things For Both AAA And Indie Games, Says Devs