Epic Games Unveils Unreal Engine 5.6 and New Creator Tools

Epic Games recently held its State of Unreal keynote in Orlando, unveiling groundbreaking updates to Unreal Engine 5.6 and showcasing a stunning tech demo for The Witcher 4 developed by CD Projekt Red. This event highlighted Epic’s commitment to empowering developers with tools to create expansive, high-fidelity open worlds that run smoothly on current-generation hardware.

The Witcher 4 Tech Demo and Unreal Engine 5.6 Enhancements

CD Projekt Red’s tech demo follows Ciri exploring a new region in The Witcher universe, running on Unreal Engine 5.6 at 60 FPS with ray tracing on PlayStation 5. Key features include the Fast Geometry Streaming Plugin for rapid open-world loading, Nanite Foliage for dense, memory-efficient vegetation, and ML Deformer for realistic character animations. These enhancements enable developers to build visually rich, large-scale environments without sacrificing performance.

MetaHuman 5.6: Revolutionizing Digital Human Creation

MetaHuman 5.6 exits Early Access and integrates fully into Unreal Engine, allowing creators to build realistic human avatars directly within the engine. Enhanced fidelity, expanded scan databases, and new authoring workflows broaden customization options for faces, bodies, and clothing. Notably, MetaHuman characters and animations can now be exported for use in other engines and creative tools, expanding their reach across the industry.

The MetaHuman Animator tool enables real-time animation from almost any camera or audio source, while new plugins and Fab marketplace integration streamline workflows. This evolution marks a significant leap toward more accessible, high-quality digital human creation for games, films, and virtual experiences.

Unreal Editor for Fortnite Expands with AI and New IPs

Since its launch, Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) has empowered creators to generate over 260,000 islands, resulting in $722 million paid to third-party developers. Epic continues to enrich UEFN with new intellectual properties such as LEGO, Squid Game, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Star Wars, expanding creative possibilities.

A highlight is the introduction of AI-powered NPCs, like the Darth Vader character that responds conversationally in Fortnite. Epic plans to release tools enabling creators to build AI-driven NPCs with personalities and behaviors, plus the Persona Device to craft interactive characters. These innovations promise to transform player engagement and game dynamics.

Additionally, the Epic Developer Assistant, currently in beta, leverages AI to assist developers in writing Verse code for UEFN projects, accelerating workflows and reducing coding friction. The upcoming Scene Graph beta will unify editor and runtime views, enabling dynamic scene modification and streamlined world-building.

Expanding Epic’s Ecosystem and Store Innovations

Epic also announced RealityScan 2.0, which unifies desktop and mobile scanning with AI-powered features, aiding high-fidelity asset creation as demonstrated in The Witcher 4 demo. The Fab marketplace will integrate AI tech for asset tagging and IP moderation, simplifying content management for developers.

On the distribution front, the Epic Games Store has surpassed $2.1 billion in payouts to developers and publishers. New initiatives include a 0% revenue share on the first $1 million earned, expanded mobile presence, pre-loading and gifting features, self-publishing on Android and iOS, and Epic Web Shops for in-app purchases. Enhanced social features will connect PC and mobile players with voice and text chat, fostering community engagement.

Together, these announcements underscore Epic’s vision to empower creators with cutting-edge technology, seamless workflows, and robust monetization opportunities across gaming and interactive media.