Unity has announced significant changes to its render pipeline strategy, focusing on streamlining development efforts and consolidating technologies. By 2026, the Unity team aims to establish the Universal Render Pipeline (URP) as the single unified pipeline across all platforms and game types, marking a new chapter in the evolution of their rendering technology.
The High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) will enter a maintenance mode, with no new features planned moving forward. However, it will continue to receive support, including updates for upcoming hardware such as the Nintendo Switch 2, with inclusion planned for Unity 6.5. While HDRP’s feature development halts, core support will exist until its eventual phase-out is completed.
Simultaneously, Unity is initiating the official deprecation of the Built-in Render Pipeline (BIRP) starting with Unity 6.5 in the summer of 2025. Despite this, the Built-in Pipeline will still be accessible within Unity 6.7 LTS, extending support potentially through to 2028 or 2029 for enterprise and industry users.
Central to this strategy is the enhancement of URP, which will become the primary focus. Unity commits to bolstering URP with features that meet or exceed those previously exclusive to HDRP. Developers can expect URP to incorporate capabilities such as real-time global illumination—Unity’s counterpart to Unreal Engine’s Lumen—alongside physical skies, screen-space reflections, and enhanced 3D lighting features. Additionally, key improvements will target performance, build times, stability, extensibility, and mobile post-processing.
This unified pipeline strategy is intended to consolidate development resources, offering benefits not only to developers and asset publishers but also to Unity’s internal teams. By aligning efforts behind a single rendering solution, Unity aims to deliver a more cohesive and adaptable framework for future developments.

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Unity is consolidating its rendering strategy around the Universal Render Pipeline (URP) as the single unified pipeline by 2026. The High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) will enter maintenance mode with no new features, while the Built-in Render Pipeline (BIRP) begins official deprecation with Unity 6.5 in summer 2025, though it remains accessible in Unity 6.7 LTS through 2028–2029. URP will be enhanced with previously HDRP-exclusive features including real-time global illumination, physical skies, screen-space reflections, and improved 3D lighting, along with performance, build time, and mobile post-processing improvements.

Unity's Render Pipeline Strategy for 2026: A Unified Future with URP