Bethesda veterans ditch UE5 for optimization miracle. New open-world RPG will run on a 10-year-old laptop

Some ex-Bethesda employees are ditching Unreal Engine 5 and going with their own tech for their first game.

Related:Gameplay From Wayward Realms - FPP RPG from The Elder Scrolls Veterans

Epic Games' engines enjoy popularity (at least among developers), replacing many proprietary engines. Just take a look at CD Projekt Red, they've gone all in with Unreal Engine 5 (every new project they've announced is being developed using this tech).

Nevertheless, not the entire industry relies on Epic Games' assistance. Some games have specific needs that Unreal Engine 5 simply doesn't meet. Apparently, The Wayward Realms is one of those titles.

A new, better, lighter, and faster engine

Former developers from Bethesda Softworks assured that even after the departure of Julian LeFey—one of the main creators of The Elder Scrolls series, who passed away a week later—the launch title of OnceLost Games studio would still be developed according to his vision. However, it apparently requires a new engine, as the team announced in a post published on Steam.

According to the studio, after their last "honest" update and the delay of The Wayward Realms, they got a lot of "positive" feedback, but also some comments from players eagerly waiting for the game. These indicated that the creators shouldn't rush things, but also that players are really looking for "complex systems, meaningful choices, and solid, uncompromising gameplay."

In this situation, the studio decided to ditch Unreal Engine 5 and start working on their own engine, which they've been tinkering with for the past few weeks. This will give the team the freedom to develop technology capable of supporting their vision of an ambitious RPG. It will also allow them to launch The Wayward Realms on laptops from a decade ago without a dedicated GPU, as well as on the first Nintendo Switch.

Moreover, since the engine will be relatively "light," everything loads quickly (in 300 milliseconds), which significantly speeds up the work on the game. The entire game world also doesn't take ages to load: Eyjar, a map "four times the size of Manhattan," loads in less than a second. Furthermore, the devs are making efforts to ensure their technology is modder-friendly.

Nevertheless, the new OnceLost Games engine needs time, and although it will apparently greatly improve development, it practically rules out the title release not only this year but even at the beginning of next year. That's why the developer plans to release The Wayward Realms only in June 2026, and only to those who supported the project on Kickstarter.

On December 3rd at 5:00 pm PT, there will be a Q&A session with OnceLost Games, during which players will be able to learn more about the studio's plans and the project's status. The stream will take place on Twitch.

The Wayward Realms

2026

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• Overview

• indie games
• RPG games
• engine change
• Unreal Engine 5