Unreal Engine 5 Shader Compilation Systems Designed to Prevent Stuttering Reportedly Don’t Function Properly

Epic Games recently introduced features in Unreal Engine 5 intended to reduce shader compilation stuttering, but technical experts suggest these systems aren’t working as intended without significant developer involvement. As discussed by Digital Foundry in their weekly podcast, Epic’s blog post highlighted how past approaches to shader caching hit a bottleneck in Direct3D 11 due to an increase in shader code, while the evolution toward Direct3D 12 and Vulkan via Pipeline State Objects (PSOs) offered relief but also introduced new complications—even for Unreal Engine.

Although Unreal Engine 5 provides options to compile PSOs ahead of time, thereby avoiding in-game hitches, Digital Foundry reports that from version 5.1 up to 5.4, these optimizations do not function properly “out of the box.” According to developers who have spoken with Digital Foundry’s Alex Battaglia, specialized work is required to get the system running as Epic intended. The engine developer has also been collaborating with hardware and software partners to address global shader issues and adapt drivers and graphics APIs, which many see as a promising sign that future versions of Unreal Engine 5 will deliver smoother performance on PC.

On a positive note, the push to fix shader stuttering includes broad work with driver and API vendors, plus changes to the engine’s handling of global shaders—historically a stumbling block for many Unreal Engine titles. In spite of these ongoing issues, there is optimism that future engine updates will more effectively solve stuttering problems once the recommended developer interventions are fully implemented.

The newest Unreal Engine 5 release is version 5.5, which includes an experimental feature referred to as “Nanite of lights,” or MegaLights, plus Sequencer improvements and additional enhancements. More detailed information can be found on the engine’s official site.

How do you see these shader compilation stuttering issues affecting your gameplay or development experience? Share your thoughts below—especially if you’ve tackled these optimizations in your own projects.