Epic Games has revealed that it is working on Unreal Engine 6, and the first game to be ported to the new game engine is none other than Rocket League. Oddly enough, I would have imagined that game would have been Fortnite, however, it is also getting the Unreal Engine 6 treatment as well.
This Unreal Engine 6 reveal happened during the ongoing RLCS Paris Major 2026 event, where millions of fans were treated to the unveiling of the new game engine, with thunderous applause.
It is interesting that Epic Games chose this event to reveal its newest game engine instead of something like GDC 2026. Regardless, there are a bunch of questions I have regarding Unreal Engine 6, but I suppose none of them are more important than this: will this engine finally get rid of all the stuttering and shader compilation nonsense that affected games running on Unreal Engine 5? Or will it improve how Unreal Engine runs on consoles, since it has not had the best track record on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, or even the Switch 2? Will it be an easy process to port existing Unreal Engine 4 or Unreal Engine 5 projects over to Unreal Engine 6?
What makes Unreal Engine 6 so interesting is that Epic does not seem to be using “metaverse” as just another empty buzzword. I’m looking at you Facebook. At least, that is what it sounds like based on what Tim Sweeney was quoted on saying back in 2023.
The idea seems to be that UE6 could help connect Fortnite and other Unreal Engine-powered games under one much larger ecosystem. That could mean accounts, characters, collections, and possibly even assets being shared across different experiences instead of being locked inside one game or app. It could become the foundation for a connected gaming platform where multiple IPs, worlds, and player identities all live under the same umbrella.
I am sure we will hear more about Unreal Engine 6 throughout the summer period, and I am looking forward to hearing what improvements will be brought on. And I really do hope they are improvements, because the gaming world has had enough of Unreal Engine 5’s list of troubles.
