Rocket League has been running on Unreal Engine 3 since it launched back in 2015. That’s over a decade on the same engine. But that’s finally about to change.
Developer Psyonix made the announcement at the Rocket League Championship Series Paris Major this weekend, officially calling it a “new era” for the game. The reveal came alongside Epic Games’ first look at Unreal Engine 6, with Rocket League and Fortnite both featured in the announcement trailer. Epic’s tagline for the moment said it all: “New era, new engine.”
No specific release date was given for when the UE6 version of Rocket League will go live. Psyonix only confirmed it’s coming, leaving the details for a later announcement.
Rocket League’s UE6 Upgrade
The timing is interesting. Rocket League already got a Switch 2 update earlier this year with better visuals and improved performance. That update ran on the old engine. The full UE6 upgrade is a separate, bigger project down the line.
Unreal Engine 6 itself is a fresh reveal. UE5 only launched in 2022, so seeing a new major version announced this quickly has surprised a lot of players. Epic hasn’t gone deep on the technical details yet, but early impressions from the trailer show a noticeably more desaturated visual style compared to Rocket League’s current bright, punchy look. Whether that becomes the game’s new default or just a showcase style remains to be seen.
Reactions from the community have been mixed. Some players are excited about the long-overdue engine upgrade. Others are worried about performance, especially on older hardware like the original Switch. Rocket League currently runs at 60fps in its performance mode on Switch 1, and there’s real concern about whether that holds up after the transition.
For now, Psyonix isn’t saying much else. When more details about the new era of Rocket League drop, we’ll have them here.
Stay tuned to GamerUrge for the latest Rocket League news and updates.
