Epic Games has announced Unreal Engine 6, the next major update to its game development platform. The reveal was held during the Rocket League Championship Series’ Paris Major rather than any major industry event. Rocket League will be the first announced game to run on Unreal Engine 6.
The trailer shows in-engine Rocket League gameplay with advanced vehicle details and cinematic camera work, followed by the Unreal Engine 6 logo. Epic described the announcement as marking “a new era” and introducing “a new engine” to the vehicle football game.
Why Rocket League is the first Unreal Engine 6 title and what it means for the industry
Rocket League currently runs on Unreal Engine 3, the same generation engine that powers many Xbox 360 games. Most of the major Epic games have already been updated to new engines, but Rocket League continues to use its original technology. Moving Rocket League from Unreal Engine 3 to Unreal Engine 6 will be one of the biggest engine upgrades for any live service game.
Fortnite, Epic’s flagship live service, transitioned from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5 without disrupting its in-game economy or ongoing operations. A similar upgrade process is expected for Rocket League, though Epic has not provided a timeline.
The Unreal Engine is one of the most widely used game engines in the industry. Some studios, such as CD Projekt, which previously created proprietary engines, have shifted to Unreal in recent years. The engine is also used in film and visual effects, with Disney Studios using it for CGI production.
Unreal Engine 5 launched in 2021 with a real-time metrics demo that gained attention for its visual quality. It has been used in titles such as Star Wars Jedi Survivor and Avowed, but has also faced criticism over performance and optimization issues. Whether these issues stem from the engine itself or how the developers implemented it is debated, but they have affected public perception of Unreal Engine 5.
Comments on a potential Unreal Engine 6 release include calls for Epic to address Unreal Engine 5’s performance issues before moving forward.
What Unreal Engine 6 reveals about epic strategy
The Unreal Engine 6 trailer showcases Rocket League alongside other Epic-owned games like Fortnite and Lego Fortnite. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has previously described Fortnite as a model for a broader platform vision, where independent developers and multiple interoperable games can co-exist within the same ecosystem. Unreal Engine 6 is positioned as a base for expanding this model beyond Fortnite.
Compared to Unreal Engine 5, which was revealed in 2021, which included a free open-world demo of The Matrix Awakens for consoles, the announcement of Unreal Engine 6 is a more modest teaser. Epic has not yet released a public technical demo, performance benchmarks, or a list of supported platforms for the new engine.
The release timeline for Unreal Engine 6, including when developers will be able to start using it and when Rocket League will transition to the new engine, has not been announced.
