During the State of Unreal keynote at Unreal Fest on Wednesday, Epic Games revealed how it integrates artificial intelligence into the Unreal Engine (UE). As well as providing the first details on Unreal Engine 6 (UE6), the company discussed the new features of Unreal Engine 5.8, which it also released on Wednesday. As part of the latest update, Epic is providing an experimental Model Context Protocol (MCP) plugin that will allow developers to connect next gen AI models like Claude and Gemini to Unreal Engine. Looking to make MCP an integral part of UE6.
Marcus Wassmer, head of Epic’s development team, wrote in a blog post that next-gen AI models can serve as “innovation and productivity extenders so that teams can focus their efforts on important creative and technical development tasks rather than time-consuming manual tasks.”
The blog post continues, “Our goal for UE6 is to significantly reduce the tedious work of content approval to leave more time for creative testing, and increase the number of iterations a team can make to polish their content. UE6 will ship with tools and workflows where you can choose to deliver your favorite models, tested against internal development and UEFN [Unreal Engine for Fortnite].”
Unreal Engine 5.8 ships today with MCP server testing 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 provided a demonstration of Claude Code connecting to UE, then pulling objects from a library and placing them in a virtual living room. Developers can still manually upload objects to the UE editor.
The company also demonstrated how a developer can use Claude’s Code in UE to create a city that can automatically adjust as assets such as parks are added. In addition to adjusting properties, next-gen AI models can adjust features such as lighting and match atmospheric conditions to real-world examples.
In a video showcasing Unreal Engine 5.8, Epic suggested that developers can use the likes of Claude to “automate asset creation, testing and development. The plugin can access core UE systems such as blueprints, assets, levels, materials, meshes and more.”
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Epic is going all in on gen AI in UE6. Back in November, CEO Tim Sweeney suggested that the tag “made with AI” could be “appropriate in art exhibitions to disclose ownership, and in markets selling digital content where consumers need to understand the status of rights. It doesn’t make sense for game stores, where AI will be involved in almost every production of the future.”
In January, the Game Developers Conference published its State of the Game Industry 2026 report, which was based on a survey of more than 2,300 game industry professionals. Of those, 36 percent said they use gen AI tools as part of their work. Most of those using such tools were for research and brainstorming (81 percent) but also for tasks such as prototyping (35 percent). However, 52 percent of respondents said they thought gen AI was bad for the industry. That number increased from 30 percent in the 2025 edition of the survey and 18 percent in 2024. Only seven percent said it had a positive impact.
Elsewhere at Unreal Fest, it was revealed that Epic is combining Unreal Engine 5 and UEFN into a single platform in UE6. Another thing the company is testing is towing capacity Fortnite skins in other UE6 games, as well as allowing developers to move their skins in a different direction. The company aims to release UE6 into early access in late 2027, with a full release planned for about 12-18 months later.
Epic had some news to share about the collaboration. Those who create Fortnite experience using UEFN will soon be able to make games based on it The Simpsonsjust like they do now star Wars IP. The company also revealed that more than 30 game collaborations are planned Fortnite this year, incl Sonic Race: CrossWorlds, Vampire Survivors, Control Resonant again Phantom Blade Zero.
However, Vampire Survivors developer Poncle seems to have concerns about Epic’s adoption of next gen AI. “Following today’s news about the use of next gen AI by Epic to create all types [sic] of game goods, incl Fortnite characters, we are currently ‘reviewing’ our interactions with them Fortnite,” Poncle said on Reddit. “We’ll let you know if anything moves forward.”
