The State of Unreal 2025 event showcased new advancements across the Epic ecosystem, highlighting Unreal Engine 5.6, MetaHuman 5.6, updates to Unreal Editor for Fortnite, and enhancements to the Epic Games Store. The event also featured technical demonstrations and new tools designed to empower developers and creators across platforms.
The Witcher 4 Tech Demo Highlights Unreal Engine 5.6 Features
Epic Games and CD Projekt Red presented a technical demonstration of The Witcher 4 that featured the character Ciri exploring a new region called Kovir. The demo emphasized open-world performance, showcasing new capabilities in Unreal Engine 5.6. These included Fast Geometry Streaming and Nanite Foliage, with real-time rendering at 60 frames per second on a PlayStation 5 using ray tracing.
The demonstration displayed how Unreal Engine 5.6 manages complex scenes populated with high-fidelity characters and effects, such as the ML Deformer, while maintaining performance. Nanite Foliage, scheduled for release in version 5.7, provided detailed vegetation rendering with improved memory efficiency.
Unreal Engine 5.6 Optimizes Open-World Development and Animation
Unreal Engine 5.6 is now publicly available. It includes significant improvements aimed at large-scale, high-fidelity open-world development. New features support smooth operation at 60 frames per second across current-generation consoles, PCs, and modern mobile devices.
The update also introduces an engine-based animation and rigging workflow that removes the need for digital content creation round-tripping. MetaHumans can now be authored within the engine itself, streamlining the design process and enabling real-time character creation.
MetaHuman 5.6 Now Fully Integrated and Cross-Compatible
MetaHuman 5.6 has moved out of Early Access and is fully integrated within Unreal Engine. The update expands creative possibilities through enhanced materials, a larger scan database, and updated models that improve scan data processing. New authoring workflows support greater customization in facial, body, and clothing design.
Real-time animation can be created using MetaHuman Animator from nearly any camera or audio input. MetaHumans are now compatible with other engines such as Unity and Godot, and with creative software including Maya, Houdini, and Blender. New plugins and Fab marketplace integration further expand the MetaHuman toolset.
Unreal Editor for Fortnite Adds IPs, AI Tools, and Scene Graph
Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) continues to evolve since it’s launch two years ago. So far creators have been paid $722 million for their creations, with over 260,000 islands created, and 11.2 billion hours of playtime generated. Starting June 17, creators can build LEGO environments using the LEGO Brick Editor. Additional IPs will become available, including Squid Game on June 27, followed by Avatar: The Last Airbender and Star Wars.
New AI capabilities are also being added. A Darth Vader NPC powered by conversational AI was introduced, and future tools will allow developers to create AI-powered characters using the Persona Device. These characters can be interactive and influence gameplay behavior.
An AI developer assistant is now in beta, helping creators write Verse code for UEFN projects. Scene Graph, launching June 7 in beta, introduces a new foundational layer that unifies editor and runtime views. This system improves world-building through hierarchical organization and real-time code-based scene manipulation.
RealityScan 2.0 Expands 3D Scanning Functionality
RealityScan 2.0 will unify the desktop and mobile versions under a single application and include new features such as AI-powered masking and advanced image alignment.
The tool also supports airborne laser scans. CD Projekt Red used RealityScan for asset creation in The Witcher 4 demo, capturing natural objects in high fidelity.
Epic Games Store Enhances Developer Support and Store Functionality
Since launch, the Epic Games Store has distributed over $2.1 billion dollars to developers and publishers. The mobile version has seen 40 million installs and is projected to reach 70 million by the end of 2025. A revised revenue share model now offers 0 percent on the first one million dollars in sales, followed by a 12 percent share.
Additional features include pre-loading, which will be available in September, and gifting, arriving later in the year. Epic Web Shops will launch in July, allowing developers to establish stores for PC and mobile game purchases. This enables partners to maintain better revenue terms and offer added value to players.
New social features are in development, including game-independent voice and text chat, party systems, and third-party game invites. These updates aim to enhance community engagement across platforms.
The State of Unreal 2025 revealed a broad range of updates across software, tools, and ecosystem support. These changes are designed to enhance development workflows, improve cross-platform compatibility, and provide new creative opportunities for developers and content creators.