Epic Games have just released Unreal Engine 4.21. This release was very clearly influenced by the development process and requirements of creating Fortnite for iOS and Android, with several improvements to both mobile support, testing procedures and networking code resulting. This release also features further improvements to Niagara, the new particle system, which now has Nintendo Switch support and a much more user friendly creation process. Another new and interesting if experimental feature is Pixel Streaming, enabling you to broadcast from an Unreal Engine game directly to supported modern web browsers.
Details of the release from the Unreal Engine blog:
Unreal Engine 4.21 continues our relentless pursuit of greater efficiency, performance, and stability for every project on any platform. We made it easier to work smarter and create faster because we want your imagination to be the only limit when using our tools. And we battle-tested the engine on every platform until it met our developers’ high standards so your project will shine once it is ready for the masses.
We are always looking for ways to streamline everyday tasks so developers can focus on creating meaningful, exciting, and engaging experiences. Our industry-leading Niagara effects toolset is now even more powerful and easier to use, enabling you to dream up the next generation of real-time visual effects. You can build multiplayer experiences on a scale not previously possible using the now production-ready Replication Graph functionality. Iterate faster thanks to optimizations with up to a 60% speed increase when cooking content, run automated tests to find issues using the new Gauntlet automation framework, and speed up your day-to-day workflows with usability improvements to the Animation system, Blueprint Visual Scripting, Sequencer, and more.
We strive to make it possible for your creations to be enjoyed as you intended by everyone, everywhere regardless of the form factor they choose. Building on the previous release, we have added even more optimizations developed for Fortnite on Android and iOS to further improve the process for developing for mobile devices. Available in Early Access, Pixel Streaming opens a whole new avenue to deploy apps in a web browser with no barrier to entry and no compromise on rendering quality. We have also improved support for Linux as well as augmented, virtual, and mixed reality devices.
As with all Unreal Engine releases, the release notes go into a great deal more detail, so be sure to click to learn more or watch the video embedded below. As always, you can install Unreal Engine using the Epic Game Launcher.