The Hero From the Unreal Engine 5 Tech Demo, Windwalker Echo, Is Coming to Fortnite

Epic Games has been showcasing the upcoming Unreal Engine 5 with a series of impressive tech demos, and now the protagonist from those demos is coming to Fortnite. Also, she’s apparently named Windwalker Echo.

Windwalker Echo is the formerly unnamed character that has starred in Epic’s various Unreal Engine 5 tech demos. This includes the Lumen in the Land of Nanite tech video that showed off the lighting and geometry tool as well as the Valley of the Ancient tech demo.

Credit: Epic Games

Both Lumen in the Land of Nanite and Valley of the Ancient are playable tech demos even though there’s no plan to create a game starring Windwalker Echo. But she will at least be playable in Fortnite starting tonight.

Unreal Engine also partnered with animation team Mold3D Studio on a new animation sample called “Slay” that shows Windwalker Echo in action. Check it out below.

Unreal Engine 5 is currently available in Early Access and developers with an Unreal license are free to test and experiment. Meanwhile, other studios are already lining up to build their next game in Unreal Engine 5 including Gears studio The Coalition, and potentially BioWare for the next Mass Effect game based on recent job listings.

Fortnite is set to end its current Chapter 2 Season 7 event with a big finale called Operation: Sky Fire. A one-time-only event set for September 12 at 1 pm PT/4 pm ET that will finish the fight against the alien invasion.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.