Unreal Engine 5 performance has been a hot topic for years and there is not a lot of learning material available. I do a lot of research in optimizing games and work with studios to help optimize their UE5 titles. On this page I have collected some of my public works around profiling, performance, and optimization for Unreal Engine.

A lot of what I learn from optimizing games in production is fed back into my ‘Complete Game Optimization for Unreal Engine 5’ course.

Long-form YouTube Tutorials

Long-form optimization videos from my YouTube channel. This is where I will continue posting many more real-world optimization examples that showcase the entire process of profiling, analyzing and optimizing games.

1-hour of GPU profiling and optimization of ‘Dark Ruins Sample’

We take Epic Games’s Dark Ruins Sample and dissect ways to optimize this scene including Nanite, Virtual Shadow Mapping, Lights, and more
 (Timestamps available in video description)

Optimizing GPU Performance for ‘Far Far West’

In this video we optimize a real game currently in Early Access (“Far Far West”)! We dive into a variety of Nanite optimizations, foliage, decal rendering, Distance Fields, and Single Layer Water. (Timestamps available in video description)

Inside Unreal: The Optimization Journey of ‘Far Far West’ (so far)

I was live on Inside Unreal together with Ari talking about profiling & optimization on Far Far West. We talk about Nanite, Insights, Lighting, VFX and more


Practical UE5 Lighting & Shadow Optimizations

We take a look at the process of auditing lights & shadows in Unreal Engine 5 using ‘Far Far West’ as a real-world example. A follow-up to the “Inside Unreal” livestream I did together with Ari from Epic Games!

“Project Orion” a Multiplayer Optimization Sample Game

My open-source Sample Game on GitHub and the most advanced and complete sample project I have built for Unreal Engine over the years. It comes with a large number of concepts and features you need to build games including a framework with a custom Ability System, enemy AI, full multiplayer support and a range of optimization tricks. You can find the full breakdown on the new Orion Sample Game project page along with the full source code.

A sample of the optimization concepts in this project includes:

  • Data-oriented Programming
  • Object Pooling
  • Deferred Tasks for frame pacing
  • Asynchronous Collision Queries
  • Significance Manager
  • Animation Budget Allocator Plugin
  • Niagara VFX Effect Types and Scalability

There is a LOT to explore in this project, visit the Project Overview page for more details on these optimizations. I am constantly expanding the game and it will continue to receive more optimizations.

A Selection of ‘Profiling & Optimization’ Tutorials

See all ‘Performance & Optimization’ Posts.

Unreal Engine Release Highlights

For every new version of Unreal Engine 5 I dig into the release notes and find the most interesting improvements to profiling, performance and optimization. There are always dozens of valuable changes buried in the incredibly long list of changes. I include further insights, and commentary where relevant, you can find them here:

Want More?

I regularly share new Unreal Engine performance and optimization tips, techniques, and lessons through my newsletter. Subscribe below if you’d like to keep learning.

And if you’re looking for a more structured deep dive, take a look at my Complete Game Optimization for Unreal Engine 5 course. It covers the complete optimization process, from profiling and finding bottlenecks to optimizing GPU, CPU, memory, and more.