Game production is currently at its peak popularity and is growing rapidly. Hire Unreal engine engineers to make it a reality! Unreal Engine, a 3D game creation tool, is used to make multi-platform games with unmatched user experiences.
But the gaming industry is not the only one to gain from this technology; over the next 10 years, there will be a 122% increase in demand for these professionals. Where then can companies locate developers for Unreal Engine? Read this article to find out more!
A Synopsis Of The Global Gaming Industry
As per PwC’s global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2022–26, the gaming industry is expected to reach a valuation of $321 billion by 2026, accounting for 10.9% of all E&M expenses. 3.04 billion people could be playing video games by 2027, and $521 billion could be made.
A major factor in this increase is innovation and technological advancement, which yearly make gaming more captivating. Among these is Unreal Engine (UE), an open-source, state-of-the-art real-time 3D production tool that is preferred by both independent and AAA game developers. It powers more than 2 million games at the moment, and 4,800 companies were producing games using it as of 2023.
Globally, there are currently around 7.5 million UE developers. This number is likely to rise much higher with the release of Unreal Engine 5, which features Nanites and RealityCapture technologies to further enhance picture realism.
In order to take use of UE5’s capabilities and produce breathtaking, immersive gaming experiences for gamers across many platforms, numerous aspiring game developers and established studios are currently seeking to collaborate with a top Unreal Engine game development company.
Factors On Which Unreal Engine Game Development Cost Depends
The cost of Unreal Engine game development varies widely based on factors such as project complexity, team size, and resources. Unreal Engine itself is free to start with, as Epic Games offers a royalty-based model, where you pay a percentage of your game’s gross revenue only after a certain threshold is reached. However, development costs can increase due to expenses like hiring skilled developers, artists, and designers, acquiring software and hardware, purchasing third-party assets, and covering marketing and distribution expenses. Small indie projects might have modest budgets, while large, high-quality productions can cost millions of dollars. Ultimately, the cost of Unreal Engine game development is highly variable and project-specific.
Key Characteristics Of An Unreal Engine Gaming Developer
Excellent Skills
Familiarity With Unreal Engine 4 And 5
The knowledge of Unreal Engine 4 and Unreal Engine 5 is essential for a top-tier UE developer.
3D Algebra
Since mathematics establishes the principles that enable things to go according to the creator’s intentions, mathematics essentially forms the foundation of all games. Every game developer uses computational geometry and linear algebra extensively when creating the game’s mechanics.
C++ Programming Language
Undoubtedly, C++ is a common programming language used in Unreal Engine games. It makes it possible for game developers to produce visually striking games that meet modern gaming requirements.
Graphical Scripting
Creating visual scripts is another essential skill for an Unreal developer to possess. Using blueprints, game designers may quickly and effectively develop complex gameplay elements.
Soft Skills
Issue-Solving
A skilled UE developer should be able to react to any new problems swiftly and efficiently to make sure the entire game development process is unaffected.
Team-Focused
Large teams are usually used by Unreal developers. As a result, they need to be excellent communicators in order to easily update everyone on the status of the project and show initiative in finishing assigned work.
Creative Thinking
Games are primarily about thrills, adventures, and fun. To create games that are genuinely entertaining and engaging, Unreal creators need to be continuously coming up with new concepts. For this reason, the ability to think creatively is crucial for Unreal Engine developers.
What Kind Of Projects Require Unreal Engine Developers?
TV And Movies
Beyond the production of video games, Unreal Engine is widely used in other industries, with cinematography making the most of this state-of-the-art technology. The abilities of Unreal Engine allow even the most grandiose movie concepts to come to life. The latter can create its own storylines, characters, settings, and so forth. Superb lighting, simulations, and remarkably lifelike visual effects further enhance all of these, taking the movie scenes to entirely new heights. TV shows that have made use of Unreal Engine technologies include His Dark Materials, Westworld, The Mandalorian, and Star Trek: Discovery.
Architecture
Lately, Unreal Engine has become the go-to application for architectural visualization. With UE’s Datasmith, architects can expedite and simplify the design process. The physically based rendering engine (PBR) allows these professionals to view lifelike visuals that match the behavior of light and materials. This makes editing quick and yields remarkably good visual content.
Transportation
The automotive and transportation industries commonly employ Unreal Engine for their projects. Car designers can develop their ideas without waiting for real models by using this technology. Resources, time, and production costs can all be halved as a result. A sales manager can also use UE to carry out VR test drives inside the store. For instance, Unreal Engine experts were hired by automaker Audi to develop a virtual showroom where customers could customize vehicles using high-fidelity pictures.
AR/VR
Businesses looking to offer their customers and players the best 3D MVR experiences will find Unreal Engine to be an invaluable resource. Its exceptional frame rates allow it to display intricate sceneries, making it an ideal option for augmented and virtual reality applications. This is why it’s becoming more and more popular to hire a group of Unreal developers to create simulations for different training exercises.
Computer Games
The sector in which Unreal Engine is most plainly used to its maximum capacity is the video game development industry. A wide range of genres’ worth of indie and AAA games can be produced with this technology. With full access to the source code, game developers can have flexibility and make changes to the code whenever they need to. The Blueprint visual scripting also makes the entire game production process a breeze. To see how their designs actually work, graphic designers and other non-technical specialists merely need to drag and drop nodes and connect them with wires. Businesses can produce a variety of games, such as open-world action-RPGs, multiplayer online role-playing games, racing, shooters, and even NFT games, by hiring Unreal game developers.
So how are these UE produced video games made? Let’s examine this process in more detail.
Stages Of Unreal Engine Game Development
The Concept
The idea is the first step in making any game. Your next video game needs to have a unique concept. Select the genre, plot, graphics style, gameplay mechanics, platform, engine (here, Unreal Engine), and other details of the game. The assessment of your capabilities and resources is yet another important component of this phase. You need to figure out how much money you have, what technology you can use, who will build the game on your team, and when would be the best times to do it.
Pre Production Stage
During the preproduction stage, the whole team brainstorms ideas about how to bring your concepts to life. Everyone contributes their thoughts on game production, from UE devs and engineers to writers and artists, in an attempt to put all the puzzle pieces together into a cohesive whole. During this phase, the team creates storyboards, character, and environment prototypes, as well as the project’s guidelines.
Production Phase
The most important and challenging stage of game development is unquestionably the production phase. At that time, the real game production starts. The prototype, the initial playable version, the vertical slice, the pre-alpha, the alpha, the beta, and the gold master are the seven milestones in the development stage.
Testing
Once your game is finished, give it a quality check to see if there are any bugs, weaknesses, or malfunctions. Two more important components that should be examined but aren’t strictly technical are the “fun factor” and scripting errors. The first illustrates the difficulty of the game, and the second shows how clear the plot is.
Post Production
The final phase before the game is released and all of your hard work is rewarded is post-production. But, you have to keep control over the output of the game by fixing bugs and releasing balanced patch updates.
Different Ways To Hire An Unreal Engine Developer
Contracted Vendor
Some companies choose to work with a vendor that has a staffing shortfall to hire an Unreal game development team. The difference between this type of collaboration and talent leasing is that instead of building a team, you hire the vendor’s engineers. Because you can rearrange your staff as needed and the provider will maintain the workspaces and equipment, the notion gives you flexibility.
Outsourcing Services Provider
If you own a non-tech company, working with an outsourcing vendor may be a wise decision. It’s possible to find Unreal developers among outsourced IT specialists, which can save you money on hiring and personnel administration by preventing you from expanding your own staff. Under this arrangement, you are released from team management and project oversight duties as your service provider handles the job from beginning to end. Just acknowledge the result.
IT Staffing Company
Hiring Unreal Engine programmers via a reputable IT staffing company is an additional option. By using this strategy, you can be sure that the programmers you recruit will give you their whole attention and be fully committed to producing high-quality, innovative products. A European video game startup was keen to try it out. A specialized development team was a good recruitment because the company’s long-term goal was to seek investment, which is unachievable with an understaffed crew. The IT recruitment agency employed senior game developers in less than a month who perfectly met the client’s requirements.
