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

Force the built-in HDR display output of the engine:

Refer to the below compatibility lists for details about whether the built-in HDR display output can be forced for the game. 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 Optional changes: If the display supports 2000 nits or higher, change r.HDR.Display.OutputDevice to 6 to use the 2000 nits output mode. Add these lines to boost the UI brightness which may make it integrate better with HDR: r.HDR.UI.CompositeMode=1 r.HDR.UI.Level=1.5 If DirectX 11 must be forced for HDR output to work, launch the game using the -dx11 command line argument. The game should now launch with HDR display output enabled and working.

Game compatibility

These tables lists all tested titles and their compatibility (or lack thereof) with forcing Unreal Engine 4 and 5's native HDR output.

Supported

HDR can be forced

HDR can be forced if -dx11 is used

Unknown

Refer to the individual game notes for more details, specific requirements, or any known limitations.

Name	D3D11 HDR	D3D12 HDR	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			Original D3D11 version.
Little Nightmares II: Enhanced Edition			The Enhanced Version makes use of D3D12. The game looks quite different, partially losing the blue filter that prevails in SDR, and some scene transitions may fail to fade to black under certain circumstances. If the screen gets stuck on a view, pause and open the Hats menu, then upause. The game brightness setting will not work properly, requiring external tools (e.g. Nvidia Control Panel, SpecialK) if the game looks too dark.
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	Editing Engine.ini results in washed out image with no HDR.
Abzu	Editing Engine.ini results in washed out image with no HDR.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time	Editing Engine.ini doesn't do anything.
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.