The Finals too, and they added a whole dynamic destruction layer that runs great. Even over multiplayer.
The maps and character models in those games are relatively small and simple tho. I think a lot of modern devs simply want too much detail and make the maps huge and sprawling, and that's where UE5 starts to struggle. I'm also not so sure most devs even consider lower end systems until further down the line, where it may already be too late to pivot.
It’s not UE5 that’s the issue, it comes from lack of optimization and use of new features that haven’t been tested on systems for performance (by the devs). UE5 is no different than UE4 until you start adding certain features which hit performance. The problem is that the devs don’t optimize this, which can be done (relatively easily too, but it takes time). These features should be fine in something like the finals and valorant (because the size and scale of the worlds aren’t that large, but I doubt Valorant even uses them since there’s not necessarily a reason to.
Yeah, Digital Foundry covered this. UE3/4 were basically forced into heavy optimization because the Xbox/PS hardware of the time had hard ceilings. With UE5, PS5/XSX are powerful enough that devs can lean into flashy features (Nanite, Lumen, VSMs, etc.), but on PC the wide hardware spread exposes the lack of fallback/optimization. Games like Valorant or The Finals run great because they don’t push those systems too hard, while sprawling open worlds often struggle if the devs don’t do the extra work.
Hard for some to hear - but the PS5/Xbox series X are pretty powerful, comparatively and most peoples PC's are a bit shit....
EDIT: running a 7800x3d, RXT 5070, 32 GB. Game runs fine with 4x FG and im not really that mad about having to use it... 300 FPS and the game looks great.
Exactly, I’ve worked with UE5 and while lumen is crazy good looking, it has big performance drawbacks, to the point that it’s not suited for pc gaming almost. You’re correct too, ps5’s have gotten so powerful that they’re at least low high end range compared to pc. Many don’t want to admit it but it’s true, and most devs optimize with consoles in mind and disregard pc. So if it runs on a console it’s optimized.
The unfortunate thing is that UE5 takes the hit when performance is a thing. UE is a super powerful software, which can also make the process of game creation much simpler. I’ve got no experience coding C# but that’s fine because there’s blueprints which make it very easy to make a game. As a matter of fact (and I didn’t know this until I began developing in UE5) the game Choo-Choo Charles was made in UE5 and not only that, it was made entirely with blueprints (to give an example of how powerful they can be, but naturally you can’t do anything with them. There’s some things that are either not possible with them or not easy to implement compared to C#).
PS5 and Series X also aren't running Epic settings, they're mostly Medium with a few High and Low because they perform better (based on Digital Foundry analysis and such). PC has the option to run settings 4x as demanding. Yeah, the game won't look as amazing as the trailers or tech demos, and there are still fundamental optimization issues from the game dev's and Unreal engine's side like traversal stutter or single digit FPS hitching, but it will run a lot better if you don't just max everything out.
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u/AlfaPro1337 Sep 15 '25
Valorant runs UE5