A new Age of Empires game developed using Unreal Engine is rumored to be in the works. A bit over four years have passed since Age of Empires 4 launched, and developer World’s Edge could be busy hacking away at the next entry in the acclaimed real-time strategy game series.
Although AoE4 continues to receive DLC, with its latest, Dynasties of the East, dropping back in November 2025, rumors around a new game in the franchise, possibly Age of Empires 5, have been swirling.
Age of Empires 5 Could Shift to Unreal Engine for Its Next Game
Most recently, Windows Central’s Jez Corden included the series in an article detailing what we can expect from Xbox in 2026 and beyond.
“There are strong rumors that Age of Empires will return with a new title in the future too, powered by Unreal Engine,” the article reads.
Although it’s not much to go on, this does follow previous rumors that mentioned a new Age of Empires game using Unreal Engine 5 being in development at World’s Edge.
Reddit user TEMISTOCLES1984 previously noticed the studio looking for a Principal Unreal Engineer via a now-deleted job posting.
The same user also shared the now-changed LinkedIn profile description of a member of the World’s Edge team, which previously mentioned they were working on “developing AAA pipeline support for unannounced Titles using Unreal Engine 5.”
Although none of the above counts as concrete evidence that Age of Empires 5 is being developed using Unreal Engine 5 – “unannounced titles” could also mean DLC or other IP –, more and more developers are moving towards Epic Games’ engine, despite it being associated with disappointing performance and stutters among the general gaming audience.
Age of Empires IV is set to receive two more expansions in 2026, but work on new entries in a series often begins while the current game is still being supported.
We’ll have to wait and see whether or not the rumors about Age of Empires 5 being in the works and making the jump to Unreal Engine 5 turn out to be true.
In the meantime, if the upcoming expansions for AoEIV aren’t enough, Age of Mythology: Retold is also getting a brand new pantheon later this year.
For the latest gaming news, follow GameWatcher on BlueSky, check out our videos on YouTube. We sometimes include affiliate links in our posts, which grants us a small commission, thank you. Please support independent Games Media. ❤️
