Unreal Engine 4 video explores the art of high-tech explosions

Where is Unreal Engine 4? Propping up a bunch of unannounced next-gen console games, apparently. Epic's Europe Manager, Mike Gamble told Edge . “There haven't really been any announcements of the games still under wraps [that use UE4] – as soon as they start going live, then you'll see suddenly see that we're everywhere again,” he said. “You'll be thoroughly sick of us!”

He reckons the big leap from cross-gen games to games developed to the higher min-spec of the new consoles will around Christmas, which will mean better looking games on PC as well. Will the explosions be quite as voluminous as those in the Unreal Engine 4 tech demo? Watch, as two people from Epic go inside the explosion to take cross-section slices, like an MRI scanner filleting a glowing orange brain.

This particular technique has been adapted to work in a pre-rendered cutscene environment, which is why it goes a bit wonky when viewed from other angles. 3D textures that move according to liquid physics will surely have practical applications. I eagerly await a Crysis-style 10,000 explosive barrel physics/explosion test or, failing that, more advanced version of the wobbly flesh cube .

Tom Senior

Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.

Latest in Game Development
Sharon Tal Yguado speaking at the 2025 D.I.C.E. Summit.
'These kids do not care about romance': Game devs want to know what today's teens want, and surveys say sex and romance isn't it
Palworld early access
Palworld studio's first move as a publisher is to save a struggling indie dev: 'This is the energy I want to see driving games in 2025'
Yakuza/Like a Dragon creator Toshihiro Nagoshi says his studio's new game won't be that big after all: 'it's not modern to have similar experiences repeated over and over again'
A man with a sausage-shaped head
'Calm down!' says Facepunch Studios: Garry's Mod successor s&box is getting a fan-requested sandbox mode and an alternative to 'Sausage Men'
Hellboy Web of Wyrd
Devolver has a new label dedicated to making games based on comics, films, TV shows and 'cult heroes'
Garry's Mod screen - G-Man riding a balloon-festooned cart with his hands held above his head while a Counter-Strike guy chases him
Rust dev is bored of paying Unity '$500k a year' to fix its engine and promises that his Garry's Mod successor won't hoodwink devs with fees
Latest in News
Man facing camera
The Day Before studio reportedly sues Russian website for calling infamous disaster-game a 'scam'
Will Poulter holding a CD ROM
'What are most games about? Killing': Black Mirror Season 7 includes a follow-up to 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch
Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers
Sony, which is making a Helldivers 2 movie, is also making a new Starship Troopers movie, but it's not based on the Starship Troopers movie we already have
Assassin's Creed meets PUBG
Ubisoft is reportedly talking to Tencent about creating a new business entity to manage Assassin's Creed and other big games
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
'It really truly changed my life in every possible way': Lady Dimitrescu actor says her Resident Evil Village role was just as transformative for her as it was for roughly half the internet in 2021
Storm trooper hero
Another live service shooter is getting shut down, this time before it even launched on Steam