Rockfish to "future-proof" Everspace 2 with Unreal Engine 5 upgrade

This spring, Everspace 2 is moving up from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5.

On its Steam blog, Rockfish Games explained this makes it easier to release updates and expansions. The engine shift is just a way of "future proofing" the game, which it wants to support for "a long time."

Not many games shift engines post-launch. But Unreal Engine 5 is gradually becoming the de facto engine as many studios such as Telltale and CDPR are adopting it for current and future projects.

Rockfish noted an engine upgrade " breaks all kinds of things," particularly for a systems-heavy game like Everspace 2. Its blog highlights some of its growing pains that have stemmed from UE5.

Future proofing and bug-squashing in Unreal Engine 5

Those bugs range from sounds being swapped around (or outright missing) to quest markers being moved or flickering lights. None appear to be game-breaking, but affect Everspace 2 regardless.

"There are many, many systems threaded throughout that create our game," said Rockfish. "[They] make for an incredible number of things that can go wrong when migrating to a major engine upgrade."

"By taking this time, we’re aiming to ensure our next major update is as smooth as possible. [...] Though we have a lot of work to do, we’re loving all the new tools and features now at our fingertips."

Rockfish's full blog and glimpses of Everspace 2's move to Unreal Engine 5 can be read here.