[UPDATE - February 1, 2026] Shortly after the Steam Early Access debut of Ashes of Creation, the game has already imploded. Founder Steven Sharif has resigned, claiming that the Board went in a direction he wasn't comfortable with, and mass layoffs are on the way. Find out what happened here.
[ORIGINAL STORY] The currently short list of confirmed Unreal Engine 5 games just got slightly bigger with the announcement that Ashes of Creation, the MMORPG in development at Intrepid Studios, has now finished upgrading from Unreal Engine 4. After debating the move, the team came to a unanimous decision and began merging its custom base with Unreal Engine 5.
Studio founder and Creative Director Steven Sharif delivered the news alongside a video demonstration of the game's latest build. He focused particularly on the global illumination improvements enabled by Unreal Engine 5's Lumen technology, as well as new but unrelated locomotion features. While this video was meant as a preliminary showcase of how Ashes of Creation looks after the upgrade, Sharif also promised that future updates will shed some light on how UE5 can speed up development itself. This is likely a reference to the World Partition system, which removes the need to manually split the game world into sublevels and also makes collaborative editing on a large world much easier.
Unreal Engine 5 is expected to graduate from its current 'early access' phase at some point next Spring. Epic's own Fortnite was already upgraded to the new version with Chapter 3, by the way. Other titles confirmed to be using Unreal Engine 5 include STALKER 2, Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate, Quantum Error, Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, ArcheAge II, the next Layers of Fear, Echoes of the End, and Black Myth: Wukong.
As for Ashes of Creation, the game got funded on Kickstarter back in 2017, promising to put the massive back into MMORPGs. Its development is slowly moving forward, with Intrepid Studios planning an Alpha 2 test stage next at some point in 2022. Meanwhile, the team is still hiring for a number of positions.
An Open WorldAshes of Creation is a unique take on the MMORPG experience. Our world structure is dynamic, and built to react to your actions. Cities will rise and fall as you shape the world of Verra. Quests and secrets will unlock as populations gather and their needs grow. As the world’s NPC structure is established in real-time, you will have the ability to destroy what’s been created, paving the way for new developments, populations, and change. Political strife and intrigue will play a very real role in the structure of your experience. Gone are the days of static worlds; change is here to stay!Risk Vs RewardAll across Verra, you have the opportunity to experience massive warfare, participate in epic trade caravans, and gather valuable components to craft exquisite items. Not only will your fellow players be your adversaries; the creatures of the land and the very environment itself will pose a constant and fresh challenge. Will you siege castles to become royalty, defeat other guilds to showcase your prowess, shape the marketplace by being a successful trader, or earn renown by developing your artisan crafting skills? This is your story, you tell us!
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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