Rocket League to Skip Unreal Engine 5, Upgrade to Engine 6

During the Rocket League Championship Series Paris Major, Epic Games and developer Psyonix announced that the long-running vehicular soccer game will be upgraded to Unreal Engine 6, skipping the widely used Unreal Engine 5. A brief teaser shown during the semifinals displayed improved lighting and near-photorealistic visuals, ending with the Unreal Engine 6 logo. The trailer declared a “new era” and “new engine” for the title, which has been running on the decades-old Unreal Engine 3 since its release in 2015.

The announcement ends years of speculation among players about a potential engine upgrade. Rocket League’s reliance on Unreal Engine 3 has limited Psyonix’s ability to add features and update the game, as the engine lacks many modern development tools and makes it harder to train new developers. The move to Unreal Engine 6 represents a significant technical leap, though the studio has not indicated when the upgraded version will be released. Epic Games has not publicly released Unreal Engine 6; preview builds are expected around 2027 to 2028, suggesting a longer timeline for Rocket League’s transition.

Epic Games has previously stated that Unreal Engine 6 will focus on...