Unreal Engine 5 was originally announced about a year ago, but now Epic Games has announced that Early Access to Unreal Engine 5 is now available for game developers and companies. While the ultimate goal is for Unreal Engine 5 to empower creators across all industries to deliver stunning real-time content and experiences, this Early Access build is intended for game developers to start testing features and prototyping their next games.

Companies can download Unreal Engine 5 Early Access and the Valley of the Ancient sample project used in the video below from the Epic Games launcher, and visit the UE5 page for more information, answers to frequently asked questions, and links to tutorials and documentation.

Epic Games also confirmed that they’re still hoping to ship the full release of Unreal Engine 5 in early 2022 with many memory, performance, and quality improvements, as well as additional new features that will benefit creators in all industries. Fortnite will be the first product in the world to be powered by Unreal Engine 5.