List of Unreal Engine 4-5 games where HDR can be forced

Unreal Engine 4 and Unreal Engine 5 have native HDR output that can be forced in many newer games with mixed results.

Earlier versions of Unreal Engine 4 required running in Exclusive Fullscreen (FSE) in order for this to work, while newer versions supports it for windowed modes as well, though some more recent versions have broken HDR in DirectX 12,^{[citation needed]} requiring the use of -dx11 launch argument to run games in DirectX 11. Depending on the version of the engine, the UI might render with the wrong gamma and look washed out.

General information

See the official engine documentation for more details.

See High dynamic range (HDR) for more information about HDR.

Instructions

Enable native HDR output

For DirectX 12-only titles where forced HDR output is only possible using DirectX 11, use the -dx11 command line argument to force it to run in DirectX 11 mode. Using this guide on the UE4 engine page, change Engine.ini to include these lines: [SystemSettings] r.AllowHDR=1 r.HDR.EnableHDROutput=1 r.HDR.Display.OutputDevice=5 r.HDR.Display.ColorGamut=2 If your display supports 2000 nits or higher output you can change r.HDR.Display.OutputDevice to 6. This will change the output mode from the 1000 nits mode to the 2000 nits mode. Optionally you can add these lines to boost the UI brightness. This might make the UI integrate better with HDR. r.HDR.UI.CompositeMode=1 r.HDR.UI.Level=1.5

Game compatibility

The below is an attempt to list all known titles where Unreal Engine 4 and 5's native HDR output support can or cannot be forced.

Supported

Name	Native D3D11	Native D3D12	-dx11 needed	Notes
Blacktail
Ghostrunner				The raytracing features will not be usable since they are limited to D3D12.
Fort Solis
Scorn
Stray
It Takes Two
The Forgotten City				Only the Microsoft Store version uses D3D12 and it is unknown if the -dx11 override is needed there or if it works at all.
Spyro Reignited Trilogy				UI elements are displayed with the wrong gamma no matter the setting chosen. r.HDR.UI.CompositeMode=0 recommended as there are banding issues otherwise.
The Invincible				Some images in the UI are displayed with the wrong gamma.
Little Nightmares II				Only the Enhanced Version is D3D12. Every other version is D3D11. The game brightness setting doesn't have any effect on the game brightness. Use external tools (e.g. Nvidia Control Panel, SpecialK) if the game looks too dark. The game looks quite different, partially losing the blue filter that prevails in SDR. Some scene transitions fail to fade to black under certain circumstances. If the screen gets stuck on a view, pause and open the Hats menu, then upause.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure				Raytracing and DLSS no longer work. Toggle fullscreen twice to fix blackscreen. Game brightness toggle no longer functions as intended (it changes the UI brightness only).
System Shock (2023)				Results in increased dynamic range but UI is washed out, UI boosting may help.
After Us				HDR works.

Unsupported

Name	Notes
Little Nightmares	HDR does not work. Editing Engine.ini results in washed out image with no HDR.
Abzu	HDR does not work. Editing Engine.ini results in washed out image with no HDR.
A Way Out	HDR works however game is unplayable. Online play does not work, local play gets to character selection screen, then crashes. Tested using EA Desktop version of game.