‘This era has come to a close’: Unreal Engine veteran Sjoerd De Jong leaves Epic Games amidst AI overhaul and rise of Unreal Engine 6

Sjoerd De Jong, a 27-year Unreal Engine veteran and key Epic Games figure, has announced his departure after 12 years, declaring “this era has come to a close” as the industry shifts towards heavy AI integration in Unreal Engine 6.

Sjoerd De Jong, known for his formative role in the evolution of Unreal Engine and heralded as a pillar in Epic Games’ developer community, left the company last week after more than a decade of service, citing the industry’s ongoing and transformative pivot to artificial intelligence. De Jong stated, “After 27 years of Unreal Engine, and 12 years at Epic Games and Unreal Engine I have decided to move on. Last week was my last week at Epic.” This significant leadership change coincides with Epic Games’ public push towards AI-driven game development, particularly in the transition to Unreal Engine 6, which prominently features AI model integration.

De Jong’s Unreal Legacy: From Amateur Mapper to Senior Director

Sjoerd De Jong began his industry journey at age 15 in 1999, creating levels for the original Unreal and distributing maps and mods for Unreal Tournament. This early engagement grew into contract work with Epic Games, followed by positions at studios such as Guerrilla Games and Starbreeze, and eventually led to the founding of Teotl Studios, the team behind ‘The Solus Project’ and ‘Unmechanical’.

Career timeline:

• 1999: Begins tinkering with Unreal level design at age 15.
• Pre-2014: Contracts with Epic, works at Guerrilla Games, Starbreeze, and founds Teotl Studios.
• 2014: Joins Epic Games as Lead Evangelist, promoting Unreal Engine 4 globally to studios and educational institutions.
• 2020–2025: Senior Director of Developer Experience at Epic Games, facilitating support for millions of developers worldwide.
• 2026: Assumed a Senior Director of Product role for an unannounced project prior to departure.

In his farewell statement, De Jong reflected, “This has been an awesome ride that has been truly life changing in so many ways. I didn’t have an easy childhood or youth and things weren’t going anywhere, but all of that changed entirely when I discovered Unreal Engine. Unreal Engine 1/2/3 put me on a very interesting trajectory for life, which in turn had a profound impact on myself as a person, my personal growth, and opportunities that opened up.

And then Unreal Engine 4 and 5 did it all over again.” He went on: “Having gone through the whole of the Unreal Engine 4 era, and then the Unreal Engine 5 era while at Epic it gave me a tremendously wide and deep view across the industry and the world. Dozens of countries visited, hundreds of studios visited, hundreds of talks presented, tens of thousands of people met, and millions of developers supported every year.”

The End of an Era and the Rise of AI in Unreal Engine 6

De Jong’s resignation comes during a pivotal shift in the games industry, specifically at Epic Games. He described the moment as a crossroads, commenting, “But all of that being said, I feel like this era has come to a close, and it is time to move forward. The industry is in a very interesting place. The games industry has always been an industry where change is relentless and inevitable, but it feels like we are reaching a pivotal point now and a potent mix of things.”

He added, “As much as I love the old way of working, I think it would be strategic to come to terms with where this is heading, and to work out how to adapt and excel at solving the challenges and opportunities that we face. Let’s see where we end up.”

De Jong’s departure coincided with major Unreal Engine 6 announcements at the State of Unreal event in Chicago, where Epic Games showcased deep AI integrations. Epic demonstrated content generation using large language models (LLMs) like Claude and Gemini. During the demonstration, developers instructed Claude via a prompt window to digitally furnish a virtual apartment, with items automatically retrieved from the asset library. Additionally, the demo showed Claude altering city scene lighting or referencing a static photo to adjust visual tone in real time, all while assuring that developers retain full manual control over outputs.

Epic Games outlined that Unreal Engine 6 will feature built-in AI model integrations—including Claude, Gemini, and others—which aim to act as “creativity and productivity multipliers”. These models are intended to allow teams to allocate more focus to essential creative and technical tasks rather than tedious manual work. According to Epic, AI tools in UE6 will expedite setup of levels, character rigs, particle systems, skinning bone weights, and lighting adjustments.

Key Unreal Engine 6 AI Features (as presented by Epic):

• Integrated support for Claude, Gemini, and other leading AI models.
• AI-driven content generation via prompt windows for level design and asset placement.
• Lighting and visual adjustments controlled interactively through natural language prompts.
• Maintained developer authority—manual overrides and fine-tuning always possible.
• Intended to multiply creativity and productivity for developer teams worldwide.

This strategic movement mirrors the changing priorities in the broader games industry, marking a sharp transition away from legacy development methods that De Jong championed throughout his career. As industry giants like Epic Games double down on AI-powered workflows and tools, the exit of a foundational Unreal Engine figure like De Jong marks a symbolic end of an era defined by manual craftsmanship and direct community engagement.

Epic Games highlighted, “Developers may wish to use AI to speed up setup of levels, character rigs, particle systems, skinning bone weights, as well as adjusting lighting.” With Unreal Engine 6 slated to be at the core of Epic’s ecosystem, De Jong’s parting words resonate: “The community and everyone out there making cool things, and all the energy and passion that comes with doing so. That is what it is all about at the end of the day, to create, have fun doing it, and to help each other.”