Unreal Engine 5 tech demo, The Matrix Awakens, will soon be removed from digital storefronts. The experience was released in the build-up to Unreal Engine 5's full release and coincided with the release of the 2021 movie, The Matrix Resurrections.
The Matrix Awakens experience was released on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X and was highly praised upon its release, showcasing photorealistic locations and characters. Throughout the playable experience, faithful CG recreations of Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss addressed the player in a cutscene that moved between their current appearances in the 2021 movie and de-aged models resembling their look in the first Matrix movie, all in UE5. This later moves into a chase scene throughout a massive and heavily detailed city environment, which served as a showcase of the power of the new Unreal Engine's character creator Metahuman, as well as lighting system Lumen and virtualized geometry system Nanite.
Unfortunately, Epic Games (via Eurogamer) has updated The Matrix Awakens' page to announce that the experience would be leaving PlayStation and Xbox stores on July 9. This shouldn't impact those who have already previously downloaded The Matrix Awakens, as the experience should still appear in their library to redownload at any time after the deadline. For those who have been unable to buy a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, this also offers them the chance to "purchase" the free content from the browser versions of the consoles' storefronts so that they own it and are able to download it from their libraries when they do get their compatible device.
Upon Unreal Engine 5's release, The Matrix Awakens' city assets were made available for free under the "Epic Games Content" section of the Unreal Engine marketplace. This move has already proven to be popular, granting beginners who wish to create their own detailed cityscapes a headstart, as well as offering more experienced developers a pre-built environment to test their own gameplay in, which has been the case with one fan who has used the city sample alongside their own custom character model and gameplay mechanics to envision an open-world Superman title on Unreal Engine 5.
The Matrix Awakens was a great example of what Unreal Engine 5 is capable of and offered an insight as to how detailed and immersive upcoming titles using the engine could be. With its new features, it is understandable that developers who have previously used their own custom engines have made the move to Unreal Engine for the current generation, with AAA titles such as the upcoming Tomb Raider being built entirely on the new engine.
Source: Epic Games (via Eurogamer)