Unreal Engine 5.6 Has Been Released

During the ongoing Unreal Fest 2025, Epic Games officially launched Unreal Engine 5.6, a new and improved version of the studio's flagship game development software.

Designed to help developers create ultra-high-fidelity, large-scale open worlds, the update introduces tools for achieving 60 FPS on current-generation hardware, Control Rig Physics, an in-engine MetaHuman Creator, improved asset organization, and major enhancements to procedural and virtual production toolsets.

The highlight of the release is the arrival of novel, optimized toolsets that empower developers to deliver games capable of running consistently at 60 FPS across current-gen consoles, high-end PCs, and modern mobile devices.

Among them is an enhanced Hardware Ray Tracing system, now optimized to boost performance for Lumen Global Illumination. Epic has also removed key CPU bottlenecks, allowing for more complex scenes without compromising framerate.

Additionally, the update debuts the experimental Fast Geometry Streaming Plugin, enabling faster loading of large amounts of static geometry while maintaining stable frame rates. New device profiles further streamline performance tuning, helping developers hit targets more easily and deliver smooth, high-fidelity experiences.

Another standout enhancement in UE5.6 is its improved in-editor animation toolsets, described by Epic as "the biggest update yet." With the redesigned Motion Trails, animators can now adjust arcs and spacing directly in the viewport, choose from styles like Dashed, Time-based, and Heat/Speed modes, and use features like pinning, offsets, and spaces for greater precision.

Tween Tools have been overhauled to make it faster and easier to fine-tune animations on controls or selected keys. New hotkeys now allow indirect control of sliders, along with the ability to switch between different slider types and activate Overshoot mode, while a new Time Offset slider adds more flexibility, giving you greater control during creation and editing.

Moreover, Unreal Engine 5.6 comes with a range of Sequencer improvements, including the new Sequencer Navigation Tool for easier handling of complex hierarchies, and real-time Audio Scrubbing to accurately sync animation, dialogue, and effects. Last but not least, the experimental Control Rig Physics feature lets you add procedural physics to character rigs, bringing a new level of realism and dynamic movement to your digital animations.

With UE5.6, Epic's MetaHuman Creator is now fully integrated into Unreal Engine, bringing a host of new enhancements both for Creator and MetaHuman Animator.

The former now lets you design an almost limitless variety of realistic body shapes, while a new Unreal Engine Outfit asset allows you to generate complete outfits for MetaHumans that automatically resize to fit any body type. Meanwhile, Animator now supports real-time performance capture from most webcams, smartphones, and even audio sources.

Other updates include:

• Redesigned Content Browser that enhances asset organization and viewing.
• Viewport Toolbar’s Section Menus and Quick Access Controls have been overhauled for faster access to key tools.
• The Project Launcher UI, currently in Beta, has been fully redesigned for greater usability and efficiency, streamlining the creation and management of device launch profiles.
• PCG's Node Graph UX now supports inline constants, making it easier to create, drag, drop, and manipulate elements.
• Significant improvements to GPU performance.
• Overall PCG performance has been boosted with multithreading support.
• The PCG Biome Core v2 plugin makes creating and updating Biomes faster and more intuitive.
• The introduction of Mocap Manager, a new end-to-end solution for visualizing, recording, and managing performance capture, all within the Unreal Editor.
• The new Quick Render feature that allows for one-click rendering of stills and sequences from the viewport or selected cameras to disk using Movie Render Graph settings.
• And much more.

Read the full list of Unreal Engine 5.6's new features and improvements here and don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.