It sounds like the Unreal Tournament franchise is dead and buried. There have been some pretty obvious hints over the years (e.g., what was supposed to be the ninth installment hasn’t been updated since 2017), but Tim Sweeney has sealed its fate by calling it a “highly experimental” title that his company doesn’t know how to “finish.”
There are two considerations. First, many core developers on Unreal Tournament drove early Fortnite Battle Royale and are still key contributors. Second, we don’t know how to “finish” UT as the project was highly experimental and hadn’t found its essence.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) July 27, 2019
Unreal Tournament’s developers had originally been ordered to lend their talents to Fortnite, but there was little reason for them to return after the Battle Royale title became the virtual money-printing machine it now is. Fans suspect that Epic Games just never figured out how to best monetize UT.
Epic could have at least imported the new models and weapons that its fans have created over the past few months. I mean, it doesn’t require a lot of manpower. If Epic simply offered that, most of its UT fans would be happy about it. Throw in there some additional modes, improve its visuals and there you have it.