Why future GTA games should utilize Unreal Engine 5

Unreal Engine 5 is the talk of the town thanks to a highly impressive demo featuring The Matrix Awakens, which some fans have likened to the GTA series.

The Game Awards 2021 happened on December 9, 2021. It was a fun ceremony highlighting numerous video game awards and world premiers, with the latter topic involving Unreal Engine 5. Some of the games and demos showcased utilized this engine, becoming a viral hit online in the process.

For example, Senua's Saga: Hellbade 2 is an upcoming game that looks terrific. However, it was The Matrix Awakens that impressed the most fans online. It's merely a demo, but it looked like a hyperrealistic open-world game that showcased how good Unreal Engine 5 could be.

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What future GTA games could benefit from when it comes to Unreal Engine 5

The above YouTube video features some gameplay demo from The Matrix Awakens. What players are looking at isn't a film; it's a playable game demo. Its graphics are awe-inspiring, and the general gameplay looks impressive. The game engine it uses is Unreal Engine 5, which displays some notable improvements over its predecessors:

• Takes advantage of next-gen consoles that utilize both RAM and SSDs
• MetaHuman Creator will have the ability to export realistic human models into Unreal Engine 5
• RealityCapture can create 3D models for objects based on photographs
• The ability to use 4K, 8K, and 12K textures

Those are a few noteworthy traits, but now it's easy to see why The Matrix Awakens looks as stunning as it does. Now imagine a modern GTA game looking like that.

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Some reactions to Unreal Engine 5

The above Tweet is an excellent example of how good a game using Unreal Engine 5 can look. There isn't a GTA game that looks nearly as good as this photo. Not even the best graphical GTA 5 mods are as good, with many either not being realistic enough or having stability issues.

Epic Games has allowed other game developers to utilize Unreal Engine 5, so it's not as if Rockstar Games should be excluded. The GTA Trilogy used Unreal Engine 4, so there has been precedence in the past.

GTA 5 uses the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE), meaning that Rockstar Games doesn't have to pay any pesky royalty fees. However, that engine needs substantial improvements to compete with what something like Unreal Engine 5 can offer.

Naturally, the impressive open-world elements from The Matrix Awakens have many fans comparing it to the GTA series. A few of them even joke about it being GTA 6. Either way, it's easy to see the connection between the game's footage and what gamers usually do in a GTA game.

Grand Theft Auto III revolutionized open-world games when it came to the freedom of exploring a virtual world. Now, it's time for GTA 6 or some other future title to mesmerize fans with yet another legendary experience unlike anything else.

As far as easy-to-use game engines go, Unreal Engine 5 is already shaping up to be an iconic part of the next generation of gaming.

Note: This article reflects the writer's personal views.