Image via Epic Games

What is Unreal Engine’s Lyra? Explained

Create your own game with Lyra.

Shown off at Epic Games’ State of Unreal conference, Lyra was revealed to be the starter project for Unreal Engine 5. It’s a multiplayer shooter video game that serves as a foundation for creators to build upon, rather than forcing users to build a completely new project from scratch. This project uses Epic Games’ multiplayer servers as well as is able to be played across all platforms: PC, consoles, and even mobile devices.

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The gameplay is simple. You’re on either the red or blue team and it’s your goal to reach a certain level of points to win the match. While the gameplay of Lyra seems simple, that’s to be expected as players will be able to take this simplistic game and make it their own.

Screenshot via Epic Games’ YouTube channel

The project comes with three different levels. One that was shown off at the conference was the Expanse level, a small, brightly-lit arena with white walls and flooring. This level shows off the shadows and incredible lightning that creators can expect to see when they use this program to build their games in. The team begins to show off the little ways that the game can be customized to make your own. For example, you’re able to move the lightning and change it, seeing how it reflects off of not only the walls and flooring. The color of your levels, whether it’s the flooring, walls, or objects, will be reflected in the lightning. So, if you change Lyra’s white flooring to red or green, you will see red or green light bouncing off the surrounding environment.

You can download the demo for Lyra from the Unreal Engine page for free right now.


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Author
Image of Kristi Jimenez
Kristi Jimenez
Kristi Jimenez is a Contributing Writer for Gamepur and has been covering video games since 2011 through Twitch and YouTube. She's also an indie game developer with multiple titles under her belt. Her interests outside of games include anime, creative writing, and musicals.