Sjoerd De Jong Leaves Epic Games After 27 Years With Unreal Engine
The departure of a long-serving evangelist and product director signals a generational shift at Epic Games as the company moves toward Unreal Engine 6 and AI-driven tools.
Reporting from 1 sources: Automaton.
Sjoerd De Jong, a 27-year veteran of Unreal Engine and 12-year Epic Games employee, announced his departure on June 19. Known as Hourences, he worked as a level designer, evangelist, and senior product director, and helped found the Epic Developer Community and restructure the Fab marketplace. He cited a turning point in the industry as a factor.
Sjoerd De Jong, who spent 27 years working with Unreal Engine and 12 years as a full-time Epic Games employee, announced his departure on June 19. De Jong, also known as Hourences, joined Epic as a contractor in 2003 to work on level design for Unreal Tournament 2004, later becoming a full-time staff member in 2014. He served as an evangelist for the engine, helped found the Epic Developer Community, and helped restructure the Fab marketplace. Earlier this year he was project leader for an unannounced project. In his LinkedIn post, De Jong said the industry is at a turning point and that while he loves the work he has done, it is time to move forward. Epic recently detailed Unreal Engine 5.8 and Unreal Engine 6 at State of Unreal 2026.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.