Unreal Engine 5 Loading

The recent Unreal Engine 5 demo has certainly left an impression. Running on a PlayStation 5, it was all real-time footage, captured while someone actually played through the thing. It was pretty much our first in-depth look at what Sony's next-gen console is capable of, and it was gorgeous.

But many have been quick to point out a potential concern with the demo. Not far into the video, the character squeezes through a tight gap in order to reach the next area, and as we all know, tight gap squeezing is usually a surefire sign that the game's masking a necessary loading screen.

Why is this a concern? Well, much has been said about the PS5's custom SSD, which, along with the rest of the system's build, allows for near instantaneous loading -- it's a huge selling point. And seeing what could be a disguised loading screen in our first PS5 tech demo doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

But according to Epic Games special projects technical director Jeff Farris, the featured gap squeeze was not a loading trick. Farris writes on Twitter: "The squeeze served several purposes for us (close-in detail, animation, audio, demo flow), but we did have a tiny worry that folks would think it was necessary to hide loading. It wasn’t." There you have it, then.

It's nice to get some clarification, especially since the conversation surrounding the supposed loading has rumbled on over the past few days to the point where people are making memes about it. Hopefully's Farris' tweet helps clear things up.

[source twitter.com, via eurogamer.net]