This Ray-Traced World Of Warcraft Remake Looks Incredible


A dedicated World of Warcraft fan has recreated several of the game’s iconic locations in stunning detail using Unreal Engine 4.

YouTube user ‘Daniel L’ recently posted a video showcasing his work on recreating Blizzard’s world in high fidelity.

Watch it here!

YouTube video

The video explores Stormwind City, the Lion’s Pride Inn, Duskwood, and parts of the Grizzly Hills.

Part of the reason why Daniel L’s project looks so beautiful is that it uses ray tracing. Ray tracing is an exceptionally taxing graphical effect for computers to simulate as it realistically calculates how light reacts with different surfaces.

Comparison shots in the video boast much more accurate lighting and shadows in shots where ray tracing is enabled. Darkwood especially looks stunning with ray tracing as a thin fog descends upon the forest and the warm glow of lantern light is eerily diffused.

The PS5 and Xbox Series X are capable of supporting ray tracing. Some older titles, like Minecraft, are already being enhanced using the technology.

Here's what World of Warcraft Classsic would look like if it had been  remastered in Unreal Engine 4 | GamesRadar+
Credit: Daniel L

Don’t get your hopes up to play it…

While it would be amazing to fully explore a version of World of Warcraft that looks as good as this does, it’s unlikely that it will ever happen. Daniel has been working on the project for over five years, with similar videos on their channel dating back to 2016. They note that it is only intended as a hobby project and will not be available to download publicly.

Here is a lovely remake of World of Warcraft's Stormwind City in Unreal  Engine 4
Credit: Daniel L

Daniel’s version of Warcraft is developed using several assets purchased from the Epic Games Unreal Engine store. The store features a vast selection of design assets that can be bought and used in Unreal Engine development projects.

Epic Games allows anyone to download the Unreal Engine and develop games using it for free. They only take a cut if the game ends up being published. Currently, Epic Games take a 12% cut on Unreal Engine games published on the Epic Games Store. For comparison, Valve takes a 30% cut of games published on Steam.

Earlier this week, we reported on a dedicated World of Warcraft player who made it to level 50 without ever leaving the starting area. I bet their grind would have been far more enjoyable if their game looked like this.

World Of Warcraft's Stormwind remade in Unreal Engine | Rock Paper Shotgun
Credit: Daniel L

Would you play a version of World of Warcraft that looks this good? Let us know across our social channels.

[Featured Image Credit: Daniel L]