New Ghost Recon Game Reportedly to Use Unreal Engine 5

Ghost Recon (Image Credit: Ubisoft)

Ubisoft is officially bringing Ghost Recon back, and the upcoming entry is set to mark a major departure from recent titles in the series.

According to a new report by reliable industry insider Tom Henderson, the next Ghost Recon, reportedly codenamed "ovr", will run on Unreal Engine 5, a surprising move for Ubisoft, which usually relies on its proprietary engines like Anvil and Snowdrop.

As Tom said:

"This game's going to Unreal Engine. Ghost Recon was on Unreal Engine in the past. They dropped that for Anvil and Snowdrop with all of their games. And I don't know why they've they've made this choice. I don't know if it is to try and get back to that feel, I guess, maybe."

This shift is reportedly meant to speed up development and attract talent more easily. Since Unreal Engine 5 is widely used and familiar to many developers, onboarding new team members becomes much faster compared to learning a custom-built internal engine.

While Unreal Engine 5 has faced criticism in the past for its resource-heavy demands on hardware, it’s also responsible for some of the most visually impressive and flexible development pipelines in the industry today. Ubisoft’s decision could signal a broader move across its studios, prioritizing efficiency and scalability over engine loyalty.

Tom earlier reported that the new Ghost Recon is dropping the third-person open-world format popularized by Wildlands and Breakpoint in favor of a first-person military simulation approach. This was later confirmed by Ubisoft CFO Frederick Duguet during the earnings call in mid-July, answering a question about Tencent investment. "Ubisoft will use its investment from Tencent for the future development of other major brand names. So we’ve got… Ghost Recon is just one example, for our first-person-shooter-type games," Duguet stated.

This time, Tom shared the inspiration behind it:

"I've learned that it is because they [Ubisoft] wanted to take the [Ghost Recon] franchise back to its roots, as the first one was first person, so on and so forth. But I think what they've done this time around is they've probably seen games like Ready or Not, which, by the way, sold a million units on console in its first four days. But they've looked at games like that and kind of thought maybe there's something there and we can take the franchise back to its roots."

Despite the excitement, there’s still a lot we don’t know. Ubisoft has yet to share an official trailer, gameplay footage, or release window, though some industry whispers suggest a possible fall 2026 launch. Until then, fans can only speculate on how this bold new direction will play out.

Ubisoft has a crowded lineup with major franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Rainbow Six still going strong, but it's encouraging to see long-dormant IPs like Ghost Recon getting attention again. And with Unreal Engine 5 powering the next chapter, the bar is set high.