MetaHuman Now Available with RealTime Animation in Unreal Engine 56

Epic Games has officially released MetaHuman out of early access alongside Unreal Engine 5.6, making this powerful tool available to all developers. MetaHuman enables the rapid creation of highly realistic digital human characters, a game changer for developers aiming to bring lifelike characters to their projects.

The latest update introduces MetaHuman Animation, which can generate real-time animations and audio from almost any mono camera, including webcams and most smartphones. This broad compatibility is possible through Unreal Engine LiveLink support, extending to some Android devices as well. This means developers no longer need specialized hardware to capture expressive, real-time facial animations.

MetaHuman Creator has also been enhanced with a wider variety of character mesh shapes and textures. Improvements in the capturing and processing of scanned data have elevated the fidelity of these digital humans, allowing teams to craft characters that feel even more authentic and nuanced.

At Unreal Fest 2025, Epic Games showcased MetaHuman’s real-time animation capabilities with a live demo featuring an alien character named Blue. Using a minimal camera setup backstage, an actor’s facial expressions and speech were captured and projected onto Blue in real time, impressively without noticeable delays. This demonstration highlighted the tool’s potential for live performances and interactive experiences.

In a significant move, Epic updated the Unreal Engine EULA license to include MetaHumans, allowing developers to use these characters in any game engine or creative software. This broad licensing flexibility opens doors for wider adoption across industries beyond Unreal Engine itself.

MetaHuman’s evolution reflects a growing trend toward democratizing high-fidelity digital human creation. By enabling real-time animation from accessible devices and expanding creative options, Epic Games empowers developers to push the boundaries of immersive storytelling, gaming, and virtual production.