Leaks are suggesting that Fortnite is set to transition to Unreal Engine 5. It has been using version 4 since its initial release. The news is not surprising but it's well worth looking at what the change might mean for the future of the game.
Fortnite On Unreal Engine 5
The move to Unreal Engine 5 is a big one for Fortnite. Currently operating on Unreal Engine 4, the game isn't in any major need of an engine change or update other than to prevent staleness from setting in.
Prominent Fortnite leaker @HYPEX broke the news initially and actually plays down the news for the main Fortnite crowd. We're actually quite excited about the possibility the new engine brings even if the changes might not be impactful immediately.
The biggest changes may not be felt in the main Battle Royale experience but instead in the Creative game modes. Content creators will need to get used to a new set of tools which may hamper production for new islands and game modes initially.
Once the transition has been made it ensures that the future of Fortnite is secured and no long-term concerns are facing the game. Fortnite has managed to thrive on Unreal Engine 4 since its release so, with the transition to 5, this should see the game taken care of for up to the next decade.
When Is The Change Happening
It's believed that the change will happen during the transition into Fortnite Season 8. This puts an approximate date of the switch as between Sunday, 12 September and Tuesday, 14 September.
It will likely be a considerable update with downtime and a reasonably large file size as assets are transferred over to the new engine. Fear not, as while the update is likely to be large, a lot of the current file size will be taken away to compensate for what is no longer needed.