tech demo Archives

AppWizard

June 22, 2026

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time PC Fan Remake Officially Stopped

CryZENx has announced the conclusion of his Unreal Engine 5 fan remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which will no longer receive updates or new versions. All previous demos of the project remain available for download. The decision to halt development was made because an official remake of the game is underway, and CryZENx did not receive a cease-and-desist letter from Nintendo. He is exploring new project possibilities, with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess currently leading a poll. CryZENx plans to release a final video showcasing gameplay of Chapters 2 and 3 of Ocarina of Time. Additionally, there are various free fan-made demos in Unreal Engine 5 available for exploration, including titles like Superman UE5 Demo and Halo 3: ODST Remake.

AppWizard

June 18, 2026

PlayerUnknown’s survival game becomes free-to-own and offers Steam refunds ‘without restrictions on playtime or how long ago you bought the game’

Prologue: Go Wayback! has exited early access on Steam, but is considered incomplete with no further development plans. Launched in early access in 2025 by PlayerUnknown Productions, the game faced significant challenges, including staff layoffs, leading to a halt in development. The studio, founded by Brendan Greene, aimed to use the game as a testing ground for its Melba game engine, designed for creating large procedural worlds. A free tech demo, Preface: Undiscovered World, is available in early access. The final version of Prologue includes new features such as enhanced paths, mobile weather monitors, and improvements in cooking, lighting, clouds, and fog.

BetaBeacon

June 12, 2026

Arm is bringing Android its own version of DLSS – game with Unreal MegaLights will show it off

Arm has announced that advanced rendering features like ray tracing, Unreal MegaLights, and neural supersampling will soon be available on new Android mobile devices. A tech demo called Neural Dawn by Sumo Digital showcases ray tracing at playable framerates with AI-based upscaling, exclusive to devices equipped with an upcoming successor to Arm's Mali G1 GPU. This will be the first mobile game to support Unreal Engine 5's MegaLights, previously exclusive to high-end console and PC games. The next generation of Mali G1 will introduce support for neural upscaling features similar to Nvidia's DLSS technology.

AppWizard

February 12, 2026

Microsoft Briefly Torpedoes Game’s Steam Page Over Screenshot

Minecraft has inspired numerous clones and voxel-based crafting simulations over the past 15 years. Recently, the upcoming game Allumeria was temporarily removed from Valve’s Steam platform due to a DMCA copyright notice from Microsoft, which claimed that Allumeria used "Minecraft content, including but not limited to gameplay and assets." The takedown was triggered by a screenshot from the game’s Steam page that depicted a world similar to Minecraft. Unomelon, the developer, stated that Allumeria does not reuse any of Minecraft's assets. The DMCA claim was generated through Tracer.AI, an AI platform used by Microsoft and Mojang to identify copyright violations. Jens Bergensten, Chief Creative Officer at Mojang, acknowledged the situation and stated he would investigate further. Approximately 12 hours later, Microsoft withdrew their DMCA claim, and Allumeria's Steam page was reinstated.

AppWizard

January 1, 2026

PUBG creator’s take on a metaverse is radically different from Roblox or Fortnite: “Everyone’s doing it the wrong way”

Prologue is a new survival game from PlayerUnknown Productions that utilizes advanced machine learning technology to create expansive maps. It is the first of three initiatives aimed at developing a broader metaverse concept called Artemis. Brendan Greene, the creator of PUBG, envisions Prologue as a community-driven experience and a testing ground for features that will contribute to Artemis. He aims to create a 3D internet where millions can share ideas and create content, contrasting with existing models that limit user experiences. Greene discussed the challenges of creating a viable metaverse, referencing limitations in current server infrastructure. Prologue's game world is generated using a machine learning agent and Unreal Engine, while another project, Preface, demonstrates the potential for creating environments on players' devices without server reliance. Greene emphasizes that Artemis will be open-source, allowing various experiences across platforms, and he projects it will take about a decade to fully realize. Prologue will remain in early access for about a year, with continued support expected after its official launch.

AppWizard

November 30, 2025

Unreal Engine 5.7 Venice Next-Gen Tech Demo Released

Scans Factory has released a tech demo using Unreal Engine 5.7, featuring the city of Venice, which is available for download. The demo includes over 500 assets, allowing players to explore various aspects of Venetian life. Performance testing on a high-end gaming rig showed 40FPS at Native 4K resolution with Cinematic Settings, and over 65FPS at Ultra settings. A walkthrough video and performance comparison between UE5.4 and UE5.7 are also provided. Additionally, various free fan-made projects in Unreal Engine 5 include remakes of popular games and other tech demos.

AppWizard

October 29, 2025

PUBG creator’s roguelike survival game with machine learning-generated worlds hits Steam early access next month – the first step toward “realistic Minecraft” for “millions of players”

PlayerUnknown Productions, an independent studio, will launch its first title, Prologue: Go WayBack, on November 20, entering early access on Steam. This single-player survival game features roguelike elements and is the first part of a trilogy envisioned by Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene, who aims to create a dynamic survival ecosystem called Project Artemis. Prologue: Go WayBack includes challenging first-person survival mechanics and a free roam mode. The development of this game is part of a larger initiative to create a technology platform for large-scale emergent play, utilizing a proprietary engine called Melba.

AppWizard

October 12, 2025

The Need for Speed Underground 2 Unreal Engine 5 Fan Remake Looks Better Than Ever

In January 2025, a demo for a fan remake of Need for Speed Underground 2 using Unreal Engine 5 was unveiled. The project, developed by apfelbaum, features a fully playable Career Mode, although it currently lacks AI opponents, traffic, and destructible environments. Future updates are expected to improve driving mechanics, introduce a new weather system, and update the car paint model. A new launcher will be introduced to streamline user experience, allowing easy downloads, updates, and integrity checks of game files. The previous demo is accessible through RPGGameplay’s Discord server. Additionally, various other fan-made demos are available, including remakes of popular games like Superman, Halo 3: ODST, and more.

AppWizard

September 3, 2025

Planetary Minecraft-inspired demo uses a spherical planet — game has the same blocky mechanics, but converts flat earth surface into a sphere

Bowerbyte has introduced Blocky Planet, a tech demo that transforms the flat worlds of Minecraft into a spherical experience. This project is available for download on PC or can be played in a web browser. Adapting the flat terrain into a spherical model involves filtering blocks based on their proximity to a central point, which presents challenges related to gravity. Players may face difficulties with upward building or downward digging due to the absence of proper gravitational mechanics. A demonstration video of Blocky Planet is available on YouTube.

AppWizard

July 23, 2025

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers review

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is an action-heavy soulslike game set in 14th century China during a plague, with a release date of July 24, 2025, priced at .99. It is developed by Leenzee and published by 505 Games. The game features a combat system that allows players to engage in battles while dodging attacks and using spells without a mana bar, supported by a skill tree for upgrades. However, the combat experience can become repetitive, with a lack of variety in enemy design and encounter mechanics. The environments are visually appealing but can feel disjointed, and the game struggles to establish a unique identity, often echoing elements from FromSoftware's titles. It does not include multiplayer and is verified for Steam Deck. The game was reviewed on an RTX 5090, Intel Core i9 12900K, and 32GB RAM.