Unreal Engine 2.5

Unreal Engine

Developer(s)	Epic Games
Initial release	May 1998; 19 years ago (1998-05)
Stable release	4.18 / October 23, 2017; 2 months ago (2017-10-23)
Development status	Active
Written in	C++
Type	Game engine
Alexa rank	2,366 (As of December 8, 2017[update])
Website	unrealengine.com

The Unreal Engine is a game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game Unreal. Although primarily developed for first-person shooters, it has been successfully used in a variety of other genres, including stealth, fighting games, MMORPGs, and other RPGs. With its code written in C++, the Unreal Engine features a high degree of portability and is a tool used by many game developers today. It has won several awards, including the Guinness World Records award for "most successful video game engine."

The current release is Unreal Engine 4, designed for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, SteamOS, HTML5, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and virtual reality (SteamVR/HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR, Google Daydream, OSVR and Samsung Gear VR).

Development of the first generation Unreal Engine was carried out by the founder of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney. Inspired by John Carmack's pioneering programming work on Doom and then Quake, Sweeney started the engine in 1995 for the production of a game that would later become known as Unreal, a first-person shooter set in a medieval world. After three years of development, it debuted with the game's release in 1998, although licensees such as MicroProse and Legend Entertainment had possessed the technology much earlier, with the first licensing deal taking place in 1996.