During The State of Unreal’s keynote at Unreal Fest on Wednesday, Epic Games revealed how it is adopting generative AI in Unreal Engine (UE). In addition to offering the first details about Unreal Engine 6 (UE6), the company discussed new features in Unreal Engine 5.8, which it also released on Wednesday. As part of the latest update, Epic is offering an experimental Model Context Protocol (MCP) plugin that will allow developers to integrate Gen AI models such as Claude and Gemini into Unreal Engine. This is about making the MCP an integral part of the EU6.
Marcus Wassmer, head of Epic’s development team, wrote in a blog post that gen AI models can act as “creativity and productivity multipliers so that teams can focus their efforts on the creative and technical tasks essential to development rather than spending time on tedious manual tasks.”
The blog post goes on to state that “our goal for UE6 is to significantly reduce the tedious work of creating content to allow more time for creative exploration and increase the number of iterations a team can make to refine their content.” UE6 will come with tools and workflows where you can choose to bring your own favorite models, tested against internal development and in the UEFN (Unreal Engine for Fortnite).
Unreal Engine 5.8 ships today with experimental MCP server support:
Your sources, your pipeline and your workflow: simply configure the MCP plugin and connect to any agent. Get familiar with the MCP server and PCG Primitive plugin today and see what teams can build together:… pic.twitter.com/Ca5yZIH443
– Unreal Engine (@UnrealEngine) June 17, 2026
Epic demonstrated Claude Code connecting to the EU, then pulling objects from an asset library and placing them in a virtual living room. Developers can still move objects manually in the UE editor.
The company also showed how a developer could use Claude Code in the EU to build a city that can be automatically scaled as assets such as parks are added. In addition to modifying assets, Gen AI models can adjust factors such as lighting and match atmospheric conditions to real-world examples.
In a video showcasing Unreal Engine 5.8, Epic suggested that developers could use Claude to “automate asset creation, testing, and optimization. The plugin can access core UE systems such as blueprints, assets, levels, materials, meshes, and more.”
It shouldn’t be too surprising that Epic is going all-in on AI generation in UE6. Last November, CEO Tim Sweeney suggested that an “made with AI” label could be “relevant to art exhibitions for authorship disclosure, and to digital content licensing markets where buyers need to understand the rights situation.” This makes no sense for game stores, where AI will be involved in almost all future productions. »
In January, the Game Developers Conference released its 2026 State of the Gaming Industry Report, based on a survey of more than 2,300 gaming industry workers. Of those, 36% said they use generation AI tools as part of their job. Most of those who used such tools did so for research and brainstorming purposes (81%), but also for tasks such as prototyping (35%). However, 52% of respondents said they think the AI generation is bad for the industry. This figure is up from 30 percent in the 2025 edition of the survey and 18 percent in 2024. Only 7 percent said it had a positive impact.
Elsewhere at Unreal Fest, it emerged that Epic is merging Unreal Engine 5 and UEFN into a single platform in UE6. Another thing the company is testing is the ability to pull Fortnite skins in other UE6 games and to allow developers to move their skins the other way. The company aims to release UE6 in early access in late 2027, with a full release expected around 12 to 18 months later.
Epic also had some news to share regarding collaborations. Those who create Fortnite experiments using UEFN will soon make it possible to create games based on The Simpsonsjust as they can currently do with Star Wars IP. The company also revealed that more than 30 gaming collaborations are planned for Fortnite this year, including Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, Vampire Survivors, Resonant Control And Ghost Blade Zero.
However, Vampire Survivors Developer Poncle seems to be worried about Epic’s adoption of Generation AI. “Following today’s news about Epic using Gen AI to create all sorts (sic) of game assets, including Fortnite characters, we are currently “reviewing” our collaboration with Fortnite“, Poncle said on Reddit. “We’ll let you know if anything progresses.”
