“Daggerfall’s Spiritual Successor” From TES Veterans Ditches Unreal Engine 5 — The Wayward Realms Delayed Until Summer 2026

OnceLost Games has decided to simplify and speed up development of its RPG The Wayward Realms by abandoning Unreal Engine 5 and switching to Wicked Engine. The developers of the spiritual successor to The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall shared the reasons behind the move in an interview with blogger Jack, Lost Lore Scholar.

According to the team, Unreal Engine 5 proved too “heavy” for their ambitions. Implementing necessary systems took a long time, the game suffered from frequent crashes, and optimization required significant effort. All of this slowed development and prevented the team from focusing on the game itself rather than technical issues.

OnceLost Games did not start building an engine from scratch. Instead, the studio adopted the existing Wicked Engine and is gradually adapting it to its needs by integrating its own systems. Importantly, many core gameplay elements had already been designed to avoid tight dependency on Unreal, making the transition smoother and allowing most of the game’s systems to be transferred without major rework.

At this point, the developers have nearly caught up to the previous Unreal Engine build. They estimate that only a bit more time is needed to fully restore feature parity. Due to the engine switch, the early access release has been pushed back to June 2026, with new details promised in early January.

One of Wicked Engine’s main advantages is its strong performance. The game already runs on relatively older PCs, which aligns with the team’s goal of broad hardware accessibility. The developers are deliberately not chasing ultra-realistic graphics, instead prioritizing stability and deep, systemic gameplay.

OnceLost Games also shared a few gameplay details. Combat will remain weighty and tactile, with physical impact playing an important role. For now, only the basic framework of the combat system has been implemented in the new engine, but the overall direction remains unchanged.

Mod support is planned closer to release. The developers acknowledge that an engine change can be a red flag for players, but they insist the decision is justified and will ultimately allow them to develop the game faster and shape it into exactly what fans of classic RPGs like The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall and The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim are hoping for.

The latest gameplay showcase of The Wayward Realms can be viewed here.