Epic says Unreal Engine 6 is in development after Chicago keynote

In a June 17 post, Epic said that during the State of Unreal keynote at Unreal Fest Chicago, it unveiled that Unreal Engine 6 is in development. Epic said the goal is to combine UE5’s AAA development capabilities with a next-generation pipeline it has been building live in Fortnite.

What Epic said the roadmap is for

• Epic said the pipeline is meant to help developers create games of any scale and scope.
• The company said projects could be deployed to traditional platforms, Fortnite, or developers’ own live ecosystems.
• Epic framed the work as part of its long-running Fortnite creation strategy rather than a separate one-off product announcement.

The post does not give a release date for Unreal Engine 6. Instead, it describes the work as in development and uses the Chicago keynote to position Fortnite as part of Epic’s broader engine roadmap. That is a notable signal for creators and studios tracking Epic’s tooling direction.

Epic’s current public status page also shows UEFN as operational, with an EOS maintenance window scheduled for July 21, 2026 at 6:00 AM UTC. That maintenance is separate from the Unreal Fest announcement, but it is the most recent operational note currently visible.