Major New Features

Select A Release

nDisplay enhancements

Applications that use multi-display rendering, including in‑camera VFX, are now much easier to set up, with a 3D Config Editor and consolidated access to all nDisplay-related features and settings in a single UAsset. There's also support for OpenColorIO for accurate color calibration, and Beta support for multi-GPU rendering, together with easier multi-camera configuration.

Extended virtual production toolset

Enhancements to support in-camera VFX and other on-set virtual production workflows include a new drag-and-drop remote control web UI builder and a significantly improved, production-ready Virtual Camera system. There's also Beta support for Level Snapshots, enabling you to save and restore the state of a given level, and for the production of correct motion blur for traveling shots.

Production-ready Pixel Streaming

Pixel Streaming is now production-ready, with a host of quality improvements and an upgraded version of WebRTC. In addition, we’ve added support for Linux. This powerful technology enables Unreal Engine and applications built on it to run on a high-powered cloud virtual machine and to deliver the full-quality experience to end users anywhere on a normal web browser on any device.

Oodle and Bink now included

With RAD Game Tools joining the Epic Games family, the Oodle Compression Suite and Bink Video codec are now available in Unreal Engine out of the box, putting some of the fastest, most efficient, and most popular compression and encoding tools in the industry into the hands of Unreal Engine developers for free. The tools run on all Unreal Engine-supported platforms. 

Enhanced GPU Lightmass (Beta)

GPU Lightmass is a light-baking solution that uses the GPU, as opposed to the CPU, to progressively render pre-computed lightmaps at significantly faster speeds, leveraging the latest ray tracing capabilities with DirectX 12 (DX12) and Microsoft's DXR framework. With this release, GPU Lightmass offers support for many more features, together with increased stability and reliability.

Path Tracer for final pixels (Beta)

The Path Tracer is a DXR-accelerated, physically accurate progressive rendering mode that can be easily enabled with a single button push. With many improvements in this release, you can now use it to create final-pixel imagery comparable to offline renderings, including compromise-free global illumination, physically correct refractions, super-sampled anti-aliasing, and much more.

Datasmith enhancements

We’ve significantly extended Datasmith Runtime, which enables users to import .udatasmith data into a packaged application built on Unreal Engine. We’ve also added Direct Link functionality to a new Archicad Exporter plugin and to the existing Rhino and SketchUp Pro plugins, enabling users to maintain a live connection between a source DCC tool and an Unreal Engine-based application.

Improved USD and Alembic support (Beta)

With Unreal Engine 4.27, it’s possible to export many more elements to USD, including Levels, Sublevels, Landscape, Foliage, and animation sequences, and to import materials as MDL nodes. You can now also edit USD attributes from the USD Stage Editor, including through Multi-User Editing. In addition, it’s now possible to bind hair and fur Grooms to GeometryCache data imported from Alembic.

Enhanced workflows for extended reality

It's now easier to create XR (VR, AR, and MR) content in Unreal Engine. Our OpenXR plugin, which enables you to target multiple XR devices with the same API, is now production-ready and offers support for additional features. We've also redesigned the VR and AR templates to offer more built-in features and easier setup, giving you a faster way to get started with your projects.

Easier still image rendering (Beta)

We've added the ability to use Movie Render Queue to render from multiple cameras as a batch process, without having to go through complicated Sequencer setups. This makes it easy to repeatedly create a series of large stills from different viewpoints, as you work through variations or iterations—ideal for architectural, automotive, or product design deliverables.

Visual Dataprep enhancements

We’ve continued to extend the Visual Dataprep feature, with new operators and filters, support for Actor Components, an enhanced user experience, and more. Visual Dataprep enables you to easily automate the process of importing and preparing your 3D data by building ‘recipes’ using an intuitive visual drag-and-drop UI and a variety of operators and selection filters. 

Support for Unreal Engine containers (Beta)

Support for containers on Windows and Linux enables Unreal Engine to act as a powerful self-contained foundational technology layer, paving the way for new cloud-based development workflows and deployment strategies—such as Pixel Streaming, CI/CD, AI/ML training, batch processing and rendering, and microservices—and enhanced production pipelines. 
Release Notes 4.27