In our interview with Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, he talks about why games are failing, what platforms can do to help, a

A few hours after the State of Unreal keynote speech, founder and CEO of Epic Games Tim Sweeney, alongside EVP of development Marcus Wassmer, met with us to talk about everything new with Unreal Engine. They’d just announced that UE6 is set for early access at the end of 2027 with a 12-14 month period before its full launch, had developers on stage speak to how Unreal made their games technically possible, and, well, showcased AI tools being integrated in future iterations of the engine. It feels redundant to say at this point that the games industry is in unprecedented times, but it really is – at the convergence of unaffordable consumer hardware, development studios getting shuttered, and AI getting pushed onto everything in between; this is where we are. With Unreal Engine being so ubiquitous as the framework for which some of the biggest games are made, Epic and its tech has a major role in stewarding the games industry, as fallible as they may be. We talked about all that in the following interview, which you can read or watch below. IGN: How is UE6 going to change AAA game development? As it gets more expensive and tools get more advanced, it seems like the idea is to help cr

Jun 24, 2026 → Jun 24, 2026