The Matrix Awakens
The Matrix Awakens is a 2021 open-world video game and technology demonstration developed by Epic Games using Unreal Engine 5 in partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures, The Coalition, Wētā FX, Evil Eye Pictures, SideFX, and others for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S, serving as a marketing tie-in for the 2021 film The Matrix Resurrections.
| The Matrix Awakens | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster | |
| Developer(s) | Epic Games |
| Publisher(s) | Epic Games |
| Director(s) | |
| Producer(s) | John Gaeta |
| Programmer(s) | Jeff Farris |
| Artist(s) | Jerome Platteaux |
| Writer(s) |
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| Engine | Unreal Engine 5 |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | December 9, 2021 |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Released during the 2021 Game Awards on December 9, 2021, it features Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Neo (Keanu Reeves), along with photorealistic 3D-scanned models of both Moss and Reeves from the present time, portrayed by themselves, in cinematic and QTE shooter scenes where the player can take control of IO, a character which Epic introduced with Unreal's MetaHuman creator tool.
While the demo did not get a PC release, Epic released the city environment in the demo as a sample project titled "City Sample" in their Unreal Engine 5 workshop. This was immediately used by fans to generate a Windows executable package in which the city can be navigated, offering the ability to control several parameters of the game engine, the game also features NPCs with AI that will generate conversations when players use the audio. The assets were also reused later in several fan-made demos featuring characters such as Spider-Man and Batman.