Unreal Engine 6 Officially in the Works, And Is About To Change Game Development Completely

Epic Games, the studio behind Fortnite and one of the most powerful game engines in the world, has officially started laying the foundation for Unreal Engine 6 — and it could change everything.

Recently appearing on the Lex Fridman Podcast, Epic Games president Tim Sweeney revealed some exciting new details about what's next for Unreal Engine. While it's still a few years away from release, Unreal Engine 6 is shaping up to be a huge leap forward in how games are built, optimized, and experienced.

Right now, Epic is dealing with a complicated situation behind the scenes. There are two different versions of Unreal Engine 5 running side by side. One is made for traditional game developers working on big-budget titles. The other is specifically built for Fortnite's massive creative ecosystem.

The problem? These two versions don't always share the same features. That means game creators are working with inconsistent tools — and it makes the entire development process harder than it needs to be.

Unreal Engine 6 is being designed to unify these versions into a single, powerful engine. Whether you're a major AAA studio or a solo indie developer, the goal is for everyone to use the same streamlined tools — without sacrificing performance, creativity, or customization. That alone would make development faster, smoother, and more accessible.

But Epic isn't stopping there.

One of the biggest upgrades coming in Unreal Engine 6 is how the engine handles game simulation — and this could be a game-changer. Right now, most Unreal Engine games only run their logic on a single CPU core, even on devices with powerful multi-core processors. That means many modern PCs and consoles aren't being used to their full potential.

According to Sweeney, the reason Unreal Engine hasn't taken full advantage of multi-core tech is simple: single-threaded programming is easier to manage, especially for developers. But as games get bigger, more dynamic, and more realistic, this old approach is starting to show its limits.

So, Epic is taking a bold step. Unreal Engine 6 will include full support for multi-threaded simulation, which will allow games to run logic across multiple CPU cores at once. This could dramatically improve performance, reduce lag and bottlenecks, and let developers create massive, detailed worlds that run smoother than ever before. Think bigger cities, smarter AI, and more interactive environments — and all without pushing your system to the limit.

Don't expect Unreal Engine 6 to launch tomorrow, though. Sweeney didn't give a specific release date, but he did say we might see early versions of the engine within 2 to 3 years. If we look at the timeline of Unreal Engine 5, which was first shown in 2020 and only started powering major games in 2023, then it's safe to say we probably won't see UE6 in finished games until around 2028 or 2029.

For context, Unreal Engine 5 gave us visually stunning games like Remnant 2, Lords of the Fallen, and Immortals of Aveum. If Unreal Engine 6 lives up to the promise, it could go far beyond even that — pushing visuals, AI, and game design into new territory.

Epic isn't just upgrading a toolset — it's rebuilding the foundation of how the next generation of games will be made. And while we might be a few years away from seeing it in action, the future of game development is already being written.

What do you think about Unreal Engine 6? Would you rather developers use a unified system like this, or do you prefer studios to build their own engines from scratch? Either way, one thing's for sure — the next wave of gaming is going to be huge.