{"rewrite":{"id":"r_5fb5cd812c20a5d3b0aa4665","clusterId":"c_5498250a61f2385230925a07","slug":"undefeated-genesis-team-builds-hero-open-world-almost-entirely-in-ue5","model":"deepseek-v4-flash","headline":"UNDEFEATED: Genesis Team Builds Hero Open World Almost Entirely in UE5","summary":"Indie-us Games, a studio specializing in Unreal Engine, is developing UNDEFEATED: Genesis, a prequel to the hero action game UNDEFEATED. The game was playable in a new demo at BitSummit PUNCH from May 22 to 24. Director Yuma Shinohara and producer Daigo Hyodo, who worked on the original as students, reunited at Indie-us Games to build a larger project. The core team has grown from three students to 13 developers, with about 60 names expected in the credits including outsourced work. The team uses UE5 for nearly everything, including cutscene dialogue, tool creation, and animation, relying on Maya and Blender only for modeling and texture tools. The demo features flight and destruction mechanics, with a stamina gauge that recharges by destroying red and blue stones. Combat uses only the right-hand controller buttons to accommodate less skilled players. The game is set on the planet Voltisia, where protagonist Albert Hartley gains superpowers and fights mutants. UNDEFEATED: Genesis is scheduled for release on PS5 and PC in early 2027, after a delay from 2026.","whyItMatters":"The studio's claim that all 13 team members are UE5 users, allowing them to build tools and handle cutscenes entirely within the engine, represents a development approach that could reduce iteration time and reliance on external software for small teams.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eDirector Yuma Shinohara previously worked at Tango Gameworks for about a year, contributing level design and game design to \"Hi-Fi RUSH\" and receiving a special thanks credit. Producer Daigo Hyodo joined Indie-us Games first, then suggested to company president Masahiko Nakamura that they bring Shinohara in to make a sequel to the student project. The three have known each other for over a decade, with Nakamura serving as a mentor to both since their time at Vantan Game Academy.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe project received funding through Epic MegaGrants, Epic Games' developer support program. The team grew incrementally: about five people for the first year, then seven for two years, and now 13. Outsourcing covers enemy and character models, with the final credits expected to include roughly 60 names.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShinohara said the previous game could not destroy buildings due to technical limits and conceptual questions about whether a superhero should destroy everything. For the prequel, the team built a world where \"destruction is praised\" - civilization on Voltisia has collapsed and reconstruction is underway, so destroying buildings and giving the materials to residents makes them happy. Environmental effects like water ripples when flying over water were also impossible during the student project.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHyodo said the team can \"make almost anything within UE alone.\" Cutscene characters and dialogue are handled entirely inside UE without Excel. \"Since all 13 team members can use UE, there's no need to use tools other than UE,\" he said. \"This also speeds up iteration, as data input, confirmation, and bug checking are all done within UE.\"\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"UNDEFEATED: Genesis's UE5-only pipeline means the entire team of 13 core developers must be proficient in the engine, a constraint that shapes hiring and tooling decisions.","twitterPost":"UNDEFEATED: Genesis's UE5-only pipeline means every core developer must master the engine, a hiring constraint most teams avoid.","threadsPost":"UNDEFEATED: Genesis is built almost entirely in UE5, including cutscene dialogue and tools. That means every one of the 13 core developers must be proficient in the engine. It is a deliberate constraint that limits the talent pool but keeps the pipeline uniform.","newsletterBlurb":"Indie-us Games showed a new demo of UNDEFEATED: Genesis at BitSummit PUNCH. The team of 13 UE5 specialists builds nearly everything inside the engine, from cutscenes to tools. The superhero open-world prequel launches in early 2027.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Automaton\",\"url\":\"https://automaton-media.com/articles/reportjp/20260602-446628/\",\"title\":\"Superhero Rampage Open World 'UNDEFEATED: Genesis' Specializes in the Pleasure of 'Flight and Destruction.' A Superhuman Trial Experience Shines with Uninterrupted 'Hospitality.'\"},{\"source\":\"Automaton\",\"url\":\"https://automaton-media.com/articles/interviewsjp/20260602-446618/\",\"title\":\"Hero Open-World 'UNDEFEATED: Genesis' Developed by UE5 Specialist Group, Built with 'Almost Only UE5' Including Tools. We Asked About the Studio Where 'All Team Members Are UE5 Users'\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":12479,"outputTokens":1367,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1780407347,"createdAt":"2026-06-02T13:27:35.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-06-02T13:31:45.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-02T13:31:45.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_5498250a61f2385230925a07","canonicalTitle":"UE5専門集団が作るヒーローオープンワールド『UNDEFEATED: Genesis』、ツールも含め「ほぼUE5だけ」で開発。“チーム全員UE5使い”だから成り立つ現場を訊いた","representativeArticleId":"a_ce1b531934fac93421dc1f0c","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":false,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"UNDEFEATED: Genesis\"],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[\"篠原友磨\",\"兵藤大瑚\"],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-06-02T10:15:19.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-06-02T10:15:22.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-02T13:31:45.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Automaton","url":"https://automaton-media.com/articles/reportjp/20260602-446628/","title":"スーパーヒーロー暴れ放題オープンワールド『UNDEFEATED: Genesis』は「飛行と破壊」の快感特化。気持ちよさ途切れぬ“おもてなし”光る、超人試遊体験"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["UNDEFEATED: Genesis"],"studios":[],"people":["篠原友磨","兵藤大瑚"],"type":"news","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":["UNDEFEATED: Genesis is a prequel to the hero action game UNDEFEATED, developed by Indie-us Games.","The game was playable in a new demo at BitSummit PUNCH from May 22 to 24.","The core team has grown from three students to 13 developers, with about 60 names expected in the credits including outsourced work.","The team uses Unreal Engine 5 for nearly everything, including cutscene dialogue, tool creation, and animation, relying on Maya and Blender only for modeling and texture tools.","UNDEFEATED: Genesis is scheduled for release on PS5 and PC in early 2027, after a delay from 2026."]}