Unreal Engine 5.7 Branch Spotted on GitHub, Hinting at Imminent Announcement

A new branch labeled for version 5.7 has appeared in Unreal Engine's official GitHub repository, indicating that the next major engine update is entering its final stages of development. The new version promises to be more optimized, a point Epic Games' Tim Sweeney has emphasized in recent interviews.

Concurrently, the project's main branch has been updated to version 5.8, confirming that Epic Games is already actively working on future versions. While an exact release date for Unreal Engine 5.7 hasn't been announced, many in the community are anticipating its first proper reveal at the upcoming Unreal Fest in Stockholm, scheduled for September 22-24.

The new engine version is expected to bring a host of technical improvements. Likely enhancements include further refinements and optimization for the Lumen global illumination system—including its hardware components—and evolution of the Nanite virtualized geometry technology, which may see improved handling of vegetation and complex foliage.

The current version, UE 5.6, launched in June and delivered a significant performance boost, ray tracing improvements, and faster loading for large worlds. However, many games on the engine still struggle with performance issues like micro-stuttering. The community is hopeful that Unreal Engine 5.7 will continue the focus on optimization, which should ultimately benefit the stability and quality of future projects built on the updated engine.

As a reminder, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has previously pointed out that many in-game performance issues are related to developers leaving the optimization phase until the very end of a game's production cycle, rather than being caused by fundamental flaws in the engine itself.