Lead Evangelist Sjoerd De Jong Leaves Epic Games After 12 Years
"I think it would be strategic to come to terms with where this is heading."
Sjoerd De Jong has a long history with Unreal Engine, starting with modding the original Unreal FPS in 1998 at age 15. Later, he was contacted by Epic Games to create maps for Unreal Tournament 2004.
Then he worked as Unreal Engine's Lead Evangelist, and in 2020, he became the Senior Director of Developer Experience, and apparently moved to the role of Senior Director of Product for a new and unannounced project at the beginning of 2026.
But a few days ago, he shared on a LinkedIn post that he is leaving Epic Games after 12 years.
In the post, he talked about his experience with Unreal since he was young, sharing how much it helped him and allowed him to live amazing experiences, but now it's time to move on.
"But all of that being said, I feel like this era has come to a close, and it is time to move forward. The industry is in a very interesting place. The games industry has always been an industry where change is relentless and inevitable, but it feels like we are reaching a pivotal point now and a potent mix of things."
As an Indie Game Developer, De Jong founded Teotl Studios in 2009, where he developed the games The Ball, Unmechanical, and The Solus Project.
Now that the gaming industry is changing and adopting AI features and systems, it's hard not to connect his departure to that, especially because he framed his leaving as coming to terms with where the industry is heading.
For the people who learned how to use Unreal Engine thanks to Sjoerd De Jong, this might be like the end of an era, but we don't know what could happen next.
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