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Fortnite recently received a graphics update to Unreal Engine 5.1, bringing many technological improvements to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, which can be further appreciated in this first in-depth video analysis from Digital Foundry.
In particular, new technologies appear in 60fps mode, while they are absent in 120fps mode. Ray tracing is applied through the Lumen system with the addition of denoisers to make the overall look “softer”, however some small pop-outs remain even with Nanite.
The transition to Unreal Engine 5.1 in particular has improved the quality of graphics through heavy use of the TSR (Temporal Super Resolution) system, which allows for a significant increase in resolution, despite the fact that the original base resolution is less than 4K.
On consoles, the graphics quality on PS5 and Xbox Series X is very similar, with dynamic resolutions fluctuating between 864p and 1836p, favoring the Xbox Series X.
In terms of performance, the 60fps goal is supported quite convincingly across all platforms. On the Xbox Series S, there are some cuts needed to keep the smoothness at a good level: the resolution is reduced to between 540p and 1080p, but remains significant at about 73% of 1080p, however, Lumen-controlled reflections are removed, in favor of the classic SSR. The complexity of vegetation and lighting maps also appears to be reduced, however the improvements made to global illumination and Nanite usage are still noticeable.
The PC front also shows a comparison between the hardware and software versions of Lumen, with the former showing characters in reflections while the latter does not. In addition, the hardware version has a more accurate lighting system and more accurate reflections.