The Wayward Realms is an upcoming indie title from OnceLost Games, a team made up of veteran developers from studios like Bethesda. In fact, the game is advertised as a spiritual successor to Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfell, garnering interest from many RPG fans worldwide.
A recent Steam post regarding The Wayward Realms has revealed an interesting update on the project. As per OnceLost Games, the title has now shifted development to proprietary technology from Unreal Engine.
According to the latest Devlog, The Wayward Realms is completely moving away from Unreal Engine to proprietary technology. OnceLost Games states that this switch allows the team a greater degree of freedom and control over the experience.
Highlighting some of the benefits of this transition, the studio points out that The Wayward Realms now runs at 30+ frames per second on very old laptops from 10 years ago. The title even supports 30FPS gameplay on the Nintendo Switch, suggesting a major performance overhaul across all devices.
Other benefits include faster loading and more efficient development. Unfortunately, this switch means that the team won’t be able to release the game to Kickstarter backers by the end of 2025, as previously promised. The team now aims to do so by June 2026, followed by an Early Access launch a few months later.
Although OnceLost Games did not say anything negative about Unreal Engine in this Devlog, Epic Games’ technology is no stranger to criticism and technical issues. In addition to traversal stutter and lower-than-expected frame rates, Unreal Engine’s latest version is infamous for running poorly across various hardware combinations. Of course, all of this is a trade-off for incredible visuals that Unreal Engine is known for.
For now, stepping away from this technology appears to be working well for the developers behind The Wayward Realms. The studio is also set to host a live AMA tomorrow, so even more details related to the switch could be revealed soon.
