The widely known Unreal Engine 5 performance issues are caused primarily by the development process that often leaves optimization for lower-end hardware last, according to the Epic CEO.
Speaking in an interview with Korean outlet This Is Game spotted by Clawsomegamer conducted during the annual Unreal Fest 2025 held at COEX in Seul, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney was asked about the known Unreal Engine 5 performance and optimization issues, highlighting that the primary reason games powered by the engine don't run well on certain system configuartions is the development process, or rather the development order. Many developers start working on games on high-end hardware and leave optimization and testing for lower-end hardware for the final stages of development. Optimization is not an easy task, and should be implemented early in the development process, Sweeny added, and Epic is preparing several measures to address this issue. The first one is to improve Unreal Engine 5 support and add automation features for various devices that will make developers' work faster and easier. The second is to improve developer training to provide optimization-specific training and raise awareness on how optimization should begin early during the development process. With games being more complex than ten years ago, optimization issues can no longer be addressed at engine level only, so game developers and engine developer must collaborate to solve these issues, Sweeny concluded.
Like Tim Sweeney said, it's clear how Epic is working hard to solve the Unreal Engine 5 performance issues at the engine level. The latest versions of the engine pack a variety of improvements that will definitely help games launching in the future run as smoothly as possible. Unreal Engine 5.6, released a few months back, for example, packs improvements that are estimated to enhance GPU performance by up to 25% and CPU performance by up to 35%.
CPU and GPU performance improvements are only some of the enhancements Unreal Engine 5.6 brought. You can learn more about every new feature included in the latest version of the game development engine by going here.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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