Unreal Engine 6: First Details Emerge from Epic’s Tim Sweeney, Promising Multithreading and Unified Development
The future of game development is on the horizon, and it's called Unreal Engine 6 (UE6). Epic Games' CEO, Tim Sweeney, recently dropped some tantalizing details about the next iteration of their powerhouse engine during an extensive interview on the Lex Fridman podcast. This news is a big deal because Unreal Engine is the backbone of countless games, and UE6 promises to address some long-standing limitations.
According to Sweeney, while an exact timeframe remains elusive, we could see preview versions of UE6 within the next two to three years. This anticipation is fueled by Epic's ambition to unify the separate development threads currently running for traditional game developers and Fortnite creators using Unreal Engine 5 (UE5). 
The core goal of UE6 is seamless integration. Sweeney emphasized that the aim is to bring the best of both worlds together, offering easier gameplay programming for both the Fortnite community and traditional developers. This means developers will be able to build their games once and deploy them anywhere.
One of the most significant announcements is Epic's intention to tackle the single-threaded nature of game simulation that has persisted throughout Unreal Engine's history. This limitation means that even with modern multi-core CPUs, Unreal Engine games primarily utilize only one core for critical game logic. UE6 aims to fully embrace multithreading, leveraging the power of modern processors to create more complex and performant game worlds.
"The biggest limitation that's built up over time is the single-threaded nature of game simulation on Unreal Engine," Sweeney stated. He acknowledged that this decision simplified development in the past but has become an increasing bottleneck. UE6 will address these core limitations to provide a better foundation for the demands of modern gaming.
While UE6 is still a few years away, expect it to be more of an evolution of UE5 than a complete overhaul. UE6 will offer greater scalability for large-scale simulations, and greater ease of use for programmers.
The unveiling of these early details provides a glimpse into Epic's tech direction, potentially shaping the next generation of gaming experiences. The promise of multithreading support and a more unified development experience marks an exciting step forward for Unreal Engine.
What are your thoughts on the direction of Unreal Engine 6? What features are you most excited to see implemented? Share your opinions in the comments below!
