Unreal Engine 6 teased – Epic emphasizes interoperability and ease of use

Forward-looking: Amid recent presentations promoting upcoming technologies for Unreal Engine 5, Epic Games says it wants to make the toolchain more accessible than ever. At a company event, CEO Tim Sweeney declared Unreal Engine 6 as a major landmark on that road while confirming that he hasn't given up on Epic's metaverse ambitions.

In an interview with The Verge following the recent 2024 Unreal Fest event, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney outlined a crucial goal for Unreal Engine 6, the next-generation version of the company's ubiquitous graphics pipeline. As Epic continues unveiling significant technical updates for Unreal Engine 5, UE6 is thought to be at least several years away from launch.

Sweeney promised that UE6 would merge the advanced development tools used to build games like Fortnite and Black Myth: Wukong with the more accessible user-generated content tools available to Fortnite players. This strategy would complete a process that began with the introduction of Unreal Engine 4.

With UE4, which still sees wide use, Epic started allowing developers of any size to publish games using a toolchain once reserved for traditional studios. The company also recently introduced a kit allowing Fortnite players with no programming or development experience to build various original scenarios. Fortnite's user-generated content suite incorporates some of UE5's game-making tools and can use popular smartphones for facial capture.

In addition to broadening the availability of game development tools, Epic wants to make it easy for users to deploy their creations across as many platforms as possible. Sweeney cited Epic's agreement to help Disney build a persistent virtual experience compatible with Fortnite, saying that UE6 will make such projects possible for developers big and small.

Epic's aim for interoperability and accessibility connects to the company's enduring metaverse ambitions. While Meta continues to lose tens of billions on a concept that the tech industry has largely cooled toward, millions of people continue using games like Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox as the digital hangout spaces Meta hopes to build.

Epic hopes to offer a shared platform where users can buy an asset in one store and use it in all three games. Launching later this month, the Fab marketplace promises to host 3D models, environments, audio, and other virtual items that would bundle licenses for use in multiple engines and other development tools.

Although the company hasn't discussed its ambitions with anyone other than Disney, Sweeney hopes that the ability to use purchased items in multiple games will make them more valuable to customers.