Epic’s Tim Sweeney Reveals Initial Details on Unreal Engine 6 – Expect Preview Versions in 2-3 Years with a Focus on Multithreading

Tim Sweeney Reveals Insights on Unreal Engine 6

In a recent episode of the Lex Friedman podcast, Tim Sweeney, the president of Epic Games and its largest shareholder, unveiled pivotal information regarding Unreal Engine 6 (UE6) while delving into various topics significant to the gaming industry.

A Unified Approach for Unreal Engine Development

Sweeney articulated that Unreal Engine 6 aims to amalgamate the distinct development pathways that Epic has been pursuing. With an ambitious timeline, he disclosed that developers might anticipate early previews of UE6 within the next two to three years.

Currently, Epic is cultivating two branches of Unreal Engine 5: one catering to traditional game developers, while the other is tailored specifically for the Fortnite community. Each branch has segments of development that do not overlap; thus, certain features of Unreal Engine 5 are unavailable in Fortnite, primarily due to challenges in deploying these advancements effectively across all seven supported platforms.

Unreal Engine 6 will serve as the convergence point for these divergent developments, creating a more integrated framework. Although the exact release date remains uncertain, Sweeney emphasized that progress is ongoing, ushering in the future of the Unreal Engine.

Tackling Limitations of Single-Threaded Simulations

During the discussion, Sweeney acknowledged a critical limitation of the current technology—Epic’s decision to maintain single-threaded simulations, a choice made to simplify programming tasks for both the company and game developers. This straightforward approach, while user-friendly, constrains the potential of modern hardware.

The biggest limitation that’s built up over time is the single-threaded nature of game simulation on Unreal Engine. We run a single-threaded simulation. If you have a 16-core CPU, we’re using one core for game simulation and running the rest of the complicated game logic because single-thread programming is orders of magnitude easier than multi-thread programming, and we didn’t want to burden either ourselves, our partners, or the community with the complications of multi-threading.

Sweeney articulated that this limitation has made itself known over time, fueling various CPU-related challenges in Unreal Engine 4 and 5 titles. With Unreal Engine 6, the focus will shift towards fully embracing multithreading, a technological evolution that aims to resolve longstanding performance bottlenecks.

Anticipating Unreal Engine 6’s Impact

Although the anticipation for Unreal Engine 6 is building, gamers should keep in mind that it may take several years before we see its implementation in new titles. As a reference point, the first preview of UE5 became available in early 2022, but significant releases harnessing this technology, such as the remake of Layers of Fear, Remnant II, Immortals of Aveum, and Lords of the Fallen, didn’t surface until mid-to-late 2023. Therefore, expectations are that the debut of games utilizing Unreal Engine 6 could extend into late 2028 or early 2029.

As the gaming landscape continues to evolve, the insights from Tim Sweeney signal a transformative shift for Unreal Engine, promising to unlock unprecedented capabilities that align with the advancements in contemporary computing.

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