Amazon's Fire TV Can Run Unreal Engine 4

Last week, Amazon introduced us to its own media streaming solution, Fire TV. Amazon made the device available right away, and early adopters and developers have already delved in to see what the system is capable of. Over on Gamasutra, Chance Ivey reports that it's possible to get the new Unreal Engine 4 running on Amazon's $99 hardware.

Ivey explains in a blog post that while new hardware and software lack technical documentation or instructions necessary for the task, Amazon and Epic Games provided a jumping off point to get things going. The process requires an Amazon Fire TV unit (duh), a Windows machine with the latest UE4 SDK, and Android Development Tools (Fire TV is based on Android, just like the Kindle Fire), and involves setting up Unreal Engine for Android deployment. You can then hook up a controller to navigate.

The end result is a demo that Ivey describes as choppy and grainy. Still, it offers a little peek at the potential for UE4 applications for Amazon's set top box. If you have a Fire TV, check out Gamasutra for the full how to.

Follow Jane McEntegart @JaneMcEntegart. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

TOPICS

Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.