Bungie May Be Using Unreal Engine For Its Unannounced PVP Game

Known for creating blockbuster franchises like Halo and Destiny, Bungie is reportedly working on a competitive multiplayer project, potentially powered by Unreal Engine. The information originated from a handful of job listings that explicitly state that Unreal Engine experience is required. In addition, the LinkedIn profile of a former Creative Director, Robert Engeln also mentions its use.

Based on Robert’s profile, the team at Bungie developed prototypes for this new project in Unity. As the team grew, they switched to Unreal Engine. Having such a requirement for Level Design and Concept Art can raise several questions for the visual status of Bungie’s upcoming project. The Required Skills section further requests deep knowledge of lighting and other artistic factors.

Unfortunately, the original job listing pages have since been deleted. Landing on their pages gives a 404 error prompt. However, those pages were archived and can be viewed. Some of the other listings on Bungie’s official website still mention Unreal under the Nice-To-Have Skills section.

While this is standard for a job listing, Unreal Engine has been the topic of conversation lately. Though there’s no confirmation on whether Bungie will be using Unreal Engine 5, the industry is seemingly in the midst of the next graphical leap in video games. The recent trailers for Unrecord along with other projects add more substance to the topic.

Bungie has previously developed its games using an in-house engine. It’s a modified version of the engine which previously powered the old Halo titles. As mentioned earlier, despite there being no official comment, the job listings serve as a significant indication of a possible transition to Unreal.

The developer has previously confirmed its plans to launch a new IP by 2025. While fans have voiced concerns over the many bugs found in Bungie’s current live-service title, Destiny 2 has continued to perform well. The launch of its latest expansion, Lightfall, was met with significant criticism citing the blandness of Neomuna, failure to follow up on story beats, and raising more questions despite some of its achievements.

Though bugs will always exist in games for various reasons, players have continually questioned the situation in Destiny 2. This could play into a possible engine upgrade at Bungie but at this point, this is all speculation. 

The latest expansion of Bungie’s looter-shooter, Lightfall, is out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, and last-gen consoles.