Unreal Engine 5: Beauty vs. Performance

For many gamers, Unreal Engine 5 evokes two distinct images: breathtaking visuals and frustrating performance issues. From massive install sizes to struggles on mid-range PCs, UE5 has often been labelled as powerful but unoptimized.

According to Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, however, those problems don’t originate from the engine itself.

Tim Sweeney Shifts the Blame

Speaking at Unreal Fest in Seoul, Sweeney told Korean outlet This Is Game that most performance bottlenecks come from developers’ approaches, not Unreal Engine 5.

He explained that many studios make two common mistakes:

Designing with high-end hardware as the primary target.
Leaving optimisation until late in development.

By the time studios attempt to scale their games for mid- or low-spec hardware, Sweeney said, it’s already much harder to resolve performance issues.

The Right Way to Optimise

Instead, Sweeney stressed that optimisation should begin early in development, even before large-scale content is built. Starting from the foundation allows developers to scale more effectively across a wide range of devices.

Epic is taking its own steps to address recurring issues by rolling out two key initiatives:

Automatic Optimisation Tools: Unreal Engine 5 will gain new built-in features to streamline optimisation across platforms.
Expanded Training and Support: Epic plans to educate developers on best practices while offering direct technical support for studios struggling with performance.

A Promise for Smoother UE5 Games

Sweeney reassured fans that Epic itself is committed to applying its expertise to ensure upcoming Unreal Engine 5 titles run smoothly, especially on lower-end PCs.

If successful, the reputation of Unreal Engine 5 could shift from “gorgeous but unoptimized” to a more scalable, developer-friendly platform. Still, Sweeney insists the burden lies with studios to integrate optimisation earlier in their pipelines.