So, you’ve downloaded the powerhouse that is Unreal Engine 5. You’re staring at that blank project, full of ideas, but the thought of creating every single asset from scratch is daunting. Where do you start without a massive art budget?

The good news is that you don't have to. Thanks to Epic Games and a thriving community of developers, there is an incredible wealth of free, production-ready assets available that can transform your project from an empty level into a professional-looking prototype—or even a final product.

We've combed through the Unreal Marketplace to bring you the ultimate list of the top 10 best free assets for Unreal Engine 5. These aren't just simple placeholders; they are AAA-quality packs that will supercharge your development process.

Top 10 Best Free Assets for Unreal Engine 5 (2025 Edition)

1. Infinity Blade: Assets

The Ultimate Fantasy Starter Kit

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This is the legendary pack that every UE developer should have in their library. Sourced directly from Epic Games' own Infinity Blade series, this collection is a treasure trove of high-quality fantasy content. It includes everything from pristine armor and terrifying monsters to sprawling environment pieces and stunning visual effects. The quality is off the charts and provides a perfect foundation for any fantasy or medieval project.

Best For: Fantasy RPGs, cinematic scenes, learning asset creation standards.

Get It Here: Unreal Marketplace - Infinity Blade

2. Paragon Character Packs

Your Roster of AAA Heroes & Villains

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Another gift from Epic's vault, the Paragon packs are a series of collections featuring the fully rigged and animated heroes from the Paragon game. Each pack (like Paragon: Sparrow, Paragon: Gideon, etc.) contains a unique character with a full set of high-fidelity animations, VFX, and sounds. These are perfect for populating your world with believable, action-ready characters without spending months on modeling and rigging.

Best For: Third-person action games, character prototyping, mastering animation blueprints.

Get It Here: Search "Paragon" on the Unreal Marketplace.

3. Action RPG Sample Project

Learn by Deconstructing a Full Game

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Don't just import assets; learn how a complete game is built. The Action RPG project is an official sample from Epic that functions as a playable game with inventory, quests, combat, and a beautiful world. Tearing this project apart is one of the best ways to understand how to structure complex game mechanics in Unreal Engine 5 using Blueprints.

Best For: Aspiring RPG developers, learning game design patterns, blueprint inspiration.

Get It Here: Found under "Games" when creating a New Project.

4. Lyra Starter Game

The Modern UE5 Multiplayer Foundation

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Lyra is Epic's official sample project for UE5 and is a more advanced replacement for the older Shooter Game template. It's a fully functional, multiplayer-ready third-person shooter that demonstrates best practices for the new Gameplay Ability System (GAS), enhanced input, and modular game architecture. If you're serious about building a modern multiplayer game, start here.

Best For: Multiplayer shooters, learning the Gameplay Ability System, professional project setup.

Get It Here: Found under "Games" when creating a New Project.

5. Electric Dreams Environment

Showcasing the Power of Lumen & Nanite

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This environment pack was created specifically to showcase UE5's groundbreaking features: Lumen for dynamic global illumination and Nanite for virtualized geometry. It features a beautiful, surreal landscape with alien flora and complex rock formations. It’s the perfect sandbox to experiment with and understand the core next-gen tech that makes UE5 so powerful.

Best For: Experiencing Lumen & Nanite, building sci-fi or alien worlds, stunning cinematic shots.

Get It Here: Unreal Marketplace - Electric Dreams

6. Quixel Megascans

The #1 Resource for Hyper-Realism

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While not a single "pack," this is the most important free resource for any UE5 environment artist. Quixel Megascans is a vast library of photoscanned assets and surfaces integrated directly into the engine via Quixel Bridge. With a free Epic account, you get access to thousands of rocks, trees, cliffs, and materials, making it possible to build breathtakingly realistic worlds in minutes.

Best For: Creating hyper-realistic natural and architectural environments.

Get It Here: Inside Unreal Engine 5, open the Quixel Bridge plugin.

7. Advanced Locomotion System (ALS)

Community-Driven Character Movement

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ALS is an open-source, community-maintained locomotion system that has become the gold standard for character movement in Unreal. It provides a incredibly robust and responsive character controller with a full set of animations for idle, walking, running, jumping, crouching, and more. It's a complex but well-documented system that will save you hundreds of hours of work.

Best For: Third-person games, learning advanced animation state machines.

Get It Here: ALS Community on GitHub or search for "ALS" on the Marketplace.

8. Ultra Dynamic Sky

Dynamic Weather & Day/Night Cycle

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Bring your world to life with a dynamic sky. The free version of Ultra Dynamic Sky is a powerful plugin that provides a fully-featured day/night cycle, dynamic weather (rain, snow, clouds), and automatic lighting updates. It's surprisingly easy to set up and instantly adds a layer of polish and immersion to any outdoor scene.

Best For: Open-world games, architectural visualization, any project requiring dynamic lighting.

Get It Here: Search "Ultra Dynamic Sky" on the Unreal Marketplace.

9. Tracer VFX Pack

Instant, Game-Ready Visual Effects

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Visual effects are crucial for satisfying gameplay. This free pack delivers a collection of high-quality, performance-friendly VFX built with the Niagara system. It includes bullet tracers, energy impacts, muzzle flashes, and explosions. These are plug-and-play effects that will make your combat feel impactful and visually exciting right away.

Best For: Shooters, action games, spell-casting systems.

Get It Here: Unreal Marketplace - Tracer VFX Pack

10. Polyhaven (CC0 Textures & HDRIs)

100% Free, No-Strings-Attached Resources

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While not on the Marketplace, Polyhaven is an essential bookmark for every UE5 artist. It offers a massive library of completely free (CC0) HDRIs, textures, and 3D models. Everything is of the highest quality and perfect for PBR workflows. Need a specific tileable texture or a 360° HDRI for lighting? Polyhaven has you covered, completely free for any use.

Best For: Sourcing high-quality textures and HDRIs for any project type.

Get It Here: Polyhaven.com

✅ Why These Assets Are Valuable

High Quality: Many are professionally made and optimized for Unreal Engine 5.

Diverse Use Cases: You get environments, characters, loot, input systems — useful for many game types.

Free but Powerful: These aren’t just placeholders — they can be used in real projects.

Flexible Licensing: Many free assets come with Fab/Epic licensing options, so check them before use. Gaming-DB+1

💡 Tips for Using Free UE5 Assets

Claim Quickly: Free content rotates, so add them to your Vault or library ASAP.

Check License: Some free assets have restrictions; always verify license terms before use.

Optimize: Even free assets may be heavy — use LODs, Nanite, or simplify where needed.

Combine Assets: Mix environment packs, characters, and props to build rich, unique scenes.

Stay Updated: Keep an eye on Fab (formerly Unreal Marketplace) — new free packs drop regularly.

The incredible power of Unreal Engine 5 is now more accessible than ever. With these free assets, you have the building blocks to create stunning environments, populate them with believable characters, and bring it all to life with dynamic systems and effects.

Remember, the goal isn't just to use these assets as-is, but to learn from them. Deconstruct the Blueprints, study the material graphs, and analyze the animation setups. They are some of the best learning tools available.

Now, fire up Unreal Engine 5 and start creating something amazing