Epic Games has revealed a new tool for Unreal Engine 5.8 which allows generative AI large language models (LLMs) to plug into and communicate with the engine directly, using its tools while being directed by text prompts.
This tool, called the Unreal MCP plugin, was revealed during the State of Unreal broadcast today, presented by senior director of Epic Games’ Research & Development department, Michael Lentine. It is available to use right now by Unreal Engine developers.
The first example we saw showed Unreal Engine running on one half of the screen with a Claude chat box on the right of the screen. A user then gave Claude instructions, allowing the LLM to generate and alter furniture in an empty room..
But Lentine was keen to stress during the presentation that you, the developer, will be in control. “Models are good at broad iterations,” Lentine said, “You’re good at knowing exactly what you want.”. The presentation then moved to show the creation of a cityscape, built with a combination of manual work and AI generation.
In a later example, which showed lighting being decided upon for this city, the user asked the LLM to make “overcast” skies. The model got this wrong, which was highlighted by Lentine. The presentation then showed the user’s ability to correct this manually using the LLM chat box.
Finally, the presentation showed a smaller scene where a hazard would occur as a player gets close in a city street environment. Lentine describes this as a scene that would “normally mean days of back-and-forth between multiple disciplines”, before showing how this new tool could rectify the issue relatively quickly.
“What we’ve shown here today would take months to build by hand, but with the MCP server and Unreal, our artists were able to make all of this in days,” Lentine said. “When you lower the technical friction, you can iterate more and make better games.”
While this is a presentation, and not necessarily reflective of how the tool will actually work in the hands of developers, it does appear to be a method of blurring the lines between AI-generation in game development and hand-built projects.
On top of all this, another Unreal Engine developer Marcus Wasmer (EVP of development at Epic Games) came on stage and pushed back against speculation that AI will supercede game engines. Instead, he said that “AI-assisted game creation” will tighten itteration loops, and reduce time-consuming tasks.
He said that generative AI and LLMs would play a “central role” in building content faster, while providing the creative control developers need.
This reveal comes at a time where the lines are already plenty blurred. While pushback against generative AI use in game development remains fierce, many developers continue to use it to aid in development of modern titles. Only recently, Sega had to address the tech’s use in the upcoming Crazy Taxi World Tour, describing it as a “support tool for developers”.
