Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 25, 2026

Unreal (video game series)

Unreal is a series of first-person shooter video games developed by Epic Games. The series is known for its exhibition of the namesake Unreal Engine that powers the games and is available for other developers to license.

Last revised
Jun 25, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
551 w
Citations
9
Source
Unreal
GenreFirst-person shooter
DevelopersEpic Games
Digital Extremes
Legend Entertainment
PublishersGT Interactive
Infogrames
Atari
Midway Games
Creators
PlatformsMicrosoft Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Xbox, OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
First releaseUnreal
May 22, 1998
Latest releaseUnreal Tournament 3
November 19, 2007

Unreal is a series of first-person shooter video games developed by Epic Games. The series is known for its exhibition of the namesake Unreal Engine that powers the games and is available for other developers to license.

Publishing rights for the series have changed hands several times. GT Interactive was the original publisher and would be later succeeded by Infogrames, Atari, and Midway Games.

In 2022, Epic Games made the decision to delist every Unreal game from all major digital storefronts following their move to support their own Epic Online Services,1 and in 2024 they gave permission for Unreal and Unreal Tournament to be preserved and distributed for free on the Internet Archive.23

Games

Titles in the Unreal series
Year Engine Title Platform(s)
Win Mac Linux DC PS2 Xbox PS3 X360
1998 Unreal Engine 1 Unreal Yes Yes No No No No No No
1999 Unreal Tournament Yes Yes Yes4 Yes Yes No No No
2002 Unreal Engine 2 Unreal Tournament 2003 Yes Yes Yes5 No No No No No
Unreal Championship No No No No No Yes No No
2003 Unreal II: The Awakening Yes No No No No Yes No No
2004 Unreal Tournament 2004 Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
2005 Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict No No No No No Yes No No
2007 Unreal Engine 3 Unreal Tournament 3 Yes No No No No No Yes Yes
2014 Unreal Engine 4 Unreal Tournament Yes Yes Yes No No No No No

Anthologies

  • Unreal Anthology (2006) contains Unreal Gold, Unreal Tournament, Unreal II, Unreal Tournament 2004, and a bonus soundtrack CD.6 Missing from Unreal Tournament are the improved S3TC textures which came with the original release of the game. Also, the internet connectivity of Unreal in this collection is isolated by having a master server different from that of the original game.

Reception

Guinness World Records awarded the series with three world records. These records include, "First Console Game to Receive a Downloadable Patch",7 "First Console Game to Support Player Modifications"8 and "First Game to be Created Using the Unreal Engine".9

References

References

External links