First Contact Entertainment reveals Firewall Ultra is one of the first PSVR 2 games running on Unreal Engine 5.
Following confirmation that PSVR 2 has Unreal Engine 5 projects in development last April, First Contact was recently interviewed by Epic Games about how the upcoming tactical first-person shooter improves on its predecessor, Firewall Zero Hour. Asked about Early Access Unreal Engine 5 VR development for Firewall Ultra, First Contact detailed the challenges involved:
It’s fair to say, it’s uncharted waters. There is literally no guide as to how to do it. It’s been a journey of discovery, and to be honest, we are still learning. Our hope is that others will see what’s possible with this engine and on this platform and understand that it is more than possible to build experiences that are absolutely best-in-class. We don’t want to rely on the qualifier of being “good for a VR game” at all, we just want to make great games in VR. We’ve never been good at accepting that this or that is not possible in VR.
Detailing how Firewall Ultra benefits from Unreal Engine 5 specifically, First Contact cites the focus on real-time lighting and claims UE5 is a good fit for live-service games, stating how “future-proofing our engine choice was an important factor.” Calling lighting a major focus for Ultra across this interview, the team explains why this is important for Ultra’s gameplay:
We don’t consider this merely dressing. When your goal is to create as immersive an experience as possible, the closer we can get to people’s real world experience of light and dark, the richer the experience becomes.
Beyond Unreal Engine 5, First Contact discusses the benefits PSVR 2 brings, clarifying why additional peripherals like the PSVR Aim Controller aren’t required, HDR support, and touching on previously announced features like eye-tracking. 60fps gameplay was confirmed, meaning Ultra will use reprojection to hit 120hz similar to Horizon Call of the Mountain and Gran Turismo 7.
Firewall Ultra arrives later this year exclusively on PSVR 2.
