Through a post on its official blog, Microsoft has decided to let us know that the new Senua's Saga: Hellblade II will use Unreal Engine 5. The graphics engine was presented with a breathtaking tech-demo some time ago, and it will be interesting to see how the developers of Ninja Theory will exploit the engine potential to create an even more evocative setting for this new title, which many are waiting for. If from the first chapter we certainly remember the presence of binaural audio, which allowed us to immerse ourselves in the madness of our protagonist, what they will be able to create graphically with this Unreal Engine 5, especially now that the team is much larger than when the first chapter was released, will certainly be something intriguing and with a huge percentage of immersion.
Microsoft wrote on its official blog that this new graphics engine will be able to take the Ninja Theory franchise to unimaginable levels, and it could almost be said that the statement is true, given that the trailer shown during The Game Awards held in December 2019, when Xbox Series X muscles were shown, it was really impactful and impossible to forget because of the graphics.
This engine, as you can see from the tech-demo, aim for extreme realism without forgetting the people who will have to work on it, so you could say that it is a great meeting point between handling and power. For now, only a few developers can use it, but after 2021 it will be available for everyone. At the moment, the only titles of which the presence of Unreal Engine 5 is certain are: Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, the new project of inXile and obviously the spearhead of Epic Games: Fortnite, which will perform a transition during 2021.
Obviously not all Xbox projects will harness the power of Epic Games' graphics engine, just see Halo Infinite. This title, the backbone for the console, will use the proprietary engine of the software developer, 343 Industries.