Digital Venice: New Unreal Engine 5.7 Tech Demo Now Available to All

A new technology demo built on the latest version of the Unreal Engine 5.7 is now available for download. Titled "Venice Next-Gen Tech Demo," the project invites you to wander through stylized yet atmospheric Venetian streets. The developers from Scans Factory have recreated the recognizable Venetian aesthetic. The demo features not just canals and bridges, but also cozy courtyards with laundry hanging out to dry, small cafes, and a square filled with architectural details. The creators used over 500 unique assets to convey the feeling of a living location.

The main point of interest in this project is showcasing the capabilities of the fresh engine version from Epic Games. Notably, there are visible improvements in performance compared to builds using UE5.4. According to tests, in some scenes, the rendering speed gain can exceed 10 frames per second on the same hardware. This is linked to refinements in key systems: the dynamic detail system Nanite, which now handles vegetation better, and the global illumination system Lumen.

For example, a system with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card and an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D processor at native 4K resolution (3840x2160) with cinematic graphics settings delivers about 40 frames per second. Switching to ultra settings pushes the frame rate consistently above 65 fps. So, despite the engine's improved optimization, it remains extremely demanding on PC resources. The project doesn't support the very latest DLSS 4, but it does use Epic Games' Temporal Super Resolution (TSR) anti-aliasing technology.

The demo can be downloaded for free and tested on your own PC. It will be especially interesting for those following the evolution of game engines and wanting to assess the level of graphics and performance to expect from future projects on Unreal Engine 5.7. For comparison, a version of the same scene built on UE5.4 is also available online, allowing for a clear visual comparison of the progress.

While studios are still exploring the capabilities of UE5.7, Epic Games has already outlined the engine's future. At a recent Unreal Fest Japan, the company's CEO, Tim Sweeney, gave the first indication of the successor's release timeline. The announcement of Unreal Engine 6 is tentatively scheduled for 2028.