Hellblade 2 confirmed to use Unreal Engine 5

Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox Series X exclusive sequel Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 will be powered by the upcoming Unreal Engine 5 game engine.

While the exciting psychiatric action-adventure game was unveiled during last year’s Xbox Series X reveal at The Game Awards 2019, it wasn’t clear what technology would be powering the title.

This means that, despite Epic Games not unveiling Unreal Engine 5 properly until just a couple of weeks ago in a real-time PlayStation 5 tech demo, Hellblade 2 was actually the first Unreal Engine 5 showcase the world ever saw as Microsoft claims the game was running in engine.

“The power of Xbox Series X was first demonstrated with the unveiling of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II,” Microsoft said. “The team will be building the game on Unreal 5 and leveraging the power of Xbox Series X to bring the Hellblade franchise to levels never before seen. The footage shown was captured in-engine and reflects the power of Xbox Series X available to developers to deliver new universes, experiences and games in ways you have never imagined.”

Hellblade 2 isn’t the only Unreal Engine 5 game announced for Xbox Series X. While third-party games such as Fortnite will be making the jump from Unreal Engine 4 to 5 for next-gen machines, Microsoft first-party studios will aslo be making use of the engine.

It’s already been revealed that InXile Entertainment’s next exclusive AAA RPG for Xbox Series X will be running on Epic Games’ next-gen engine.

Of course, Gears of War developer The Coalition is expected to create the next mainline Gears game on the engine. The Gears franchise has always set the technological benchmark for what the engine can achieve.