Bethesda veterans ditch UE5 for optimization miracle. New open-world RPG will run on a 10-year-old laptop

by

Former Bethesda developers are choosing to build their first game using in-house technology instead of Unreal Engine 5.

Epic Games’ engines are becoming increasingly popular with developers, often replacing the custom-built engines companies used to create. A great example is CD Projekt Red, who are now using Unreal Engine 5 for all their new projects.

However, not every game developer depends on Epic Games. Some games require features that Unreal Engine 5 doesn’t offer. For example, the game The Wayward Realms is building its project with different tools.

A new, better, lighter, and faster engine

Despite the recent passing of Julian LeFey, a key figure behind The Elder Scrolls games, the team at OnceLost Games—which includes former Bethesda developers—says they’re committed to building their first game as he originally envisioned. However, they’ve announced on Steam that the project now requires a completely new game engine.

So, the studio recently gave us an update about The Wayward Realms and the delay, and they said the reaction was mostly positive. But a lot of us also let them know we’d rather they take their time and get it right. We’re really hoping for a game with deep, interesting systems, choices that actually matter, and gameplay that doesn’t pull any punches – something really solid and uncompromising. That’s what we’re excited about!

The studio has switched away from Unreal Engine 5 to build their own engine, something they’ve been experimenting with recently. This move will give them more control over the technology needed for their large-scale RPG project. Importantly, it will also let them release The Wayward Realms on older laptops – even those without a dedicated graphics card – and on the original Nintendo Switch.

Because the game engine is designed to be efficient, everything loads very quickly – in just 300 milliseconds, which makes development much faster. Even large areas, like the map Eyjar (which is four times the size of Manhattan), load in under a second. The developers are also working to make the technology easy for modders to use and customize.

Despite the potential of the new OnceLost Games engine to speed up development in the future, it means the game won’t be released this year or early next year. Therefore, the developer is planning to release The Wayward Realms in June 2026, initially only to backers who supported the project on Kickstarter.

Join OnceLost Games on Twitch for a Q&A session on December 3rd at 5:00 PM Pacific Time. They’ll be sharing updates on their project and answering your questions.

Read More

2025-12-03 16:02