League of Legends: Teamfight Tactics has been confirmed to undergo an engine upgrade in Season 18, migrating from the Hextech Engine to the Unreal Engine.

The official announcement for Teamfight Tactics (TFT) states that starting with Season 18, the game will officially migrate from the current Hextech Engine to Unreal Engine. This change marks a significant step forward for the game at the underlying technological level.  

The official announcement states that the engine migration will first be implemented in Season 18, which will begin in the summer of 2026, with the theme "Wilderness". Furthermore, the development team confirmed that the game client will be updated later this year, and full integration with the Unreal Engine will be gradually completed.  

In Riot Games' previously announced 2026 overall plan, Teamfight Tactics had already showcased its related technology upgrade direction. This official implementation marks the project's entry into the development and application phase. The official statement indicates that the core goal of this engine upgrade is to provide players with a more stable and scalable long-term gaming experience.  

The official statement emphasizes that there will be no significant changes to the core gameplay in Season 18 and the following two seasons, allowing players to continue experiencing the game within a familiar mechanic system. However, as technology migration progresses, subsequent versions will gradually incorporate new tools and performance optimizations based on the Unreal Engine to expand content creation possibilities.  

As an independent game mode derived from League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics has relied on the Hextech Engine since its launch in 2019. Migrating to Unreal Engine will provide the development team with more dedicated development tools and technical architecture, while reducing potential interference with the main League of Legends client. In the long run, this change will facilitate more independent optimization and development for both systems.  

The official statement indicates that due to engine migration involving underlying architecture adjustments, the update package size upon Season 18's launch will be larger than previous regular versions. However, the overall game experience will remain largely consistent with the current version, and the core gameplay will not change.  

Thank you, Summoners, for your continued support and love for Teamfight Tactics. As the Unreal Engine becomes more fully implemented, this mode will have a more open and diverse space for development in the future.  

Image source: Internet/League of Legends official website