It seems a consistent and frustrating pattern that a new engine version launches and it’s only days or weeks after that very common community plugins are released.
For example, I use Electronic Nodes. But I’m sure everyone who uses some kind of quality of life plugin can attest that it’s no fun having to suddenly work without the plugin for an unknown period of time.
The developer of Electronic Nodes mentioned on several releases that he was waiting for Epic to approve the plugin. So my question is this, are developers able to port their plugins and get approval prior to engine release, in which case it is entirely their responsibility? Or is Epic making this difficult and essentially creating a mandatory delay following a new version?
I’m not Epic but I understand how addons/DLC/Plugins/etc work. The Plugin author doesn’t get early access to the release build, they get it at the same time as everyone else, and then they have to put in the work to update it for the new version and make sure it doesn’t do crazy things.
The “mandatory delay” here is the exact same as mods in a game (essentially what a plugin is), and because it could cause unintended use of their program they have to examine it at least a little alongside the new version before they can be released to the public.
Don’t worry, this kind of thing is very, very normal in the tech world. 
Ask any World of Warcraft or FFXIV player about their addons after every patch! 
Hey, I’m the maintainer of Electronic Nodes! I think it’s fair to explain the process a little more.
When Epic releases a new version of the engine, everyone one get the build at the same time. Some plugin maintainer can start working on their update with the preview version, but there’s a chance something will break between this and the final build.
In any case, we can’t submit any update before the official release. When it releases, it’s rush time: everyone send their update in the upcoming hours or days.
The thing is, Epic has to manually review each submission. That is not an automated process. I send a Google Drive link with the new version of Electronic Nodes, they have to download it, test a bunch of things, and package it for the marketplace.
And since they get a loooot of submission in that time, they can get slow to validated new updates.
To be fair, I’m a little late, UE6 was released yesterday, I’m submitting the update today. The validation process should take a couple of days (sometimes they are extra quick and validate in a few hours).
So you should get the update of Electronic Nodes before the end of the week 
I was hoping you might be around, thanks for the reply.
I understand the process now, thank you. Although I have to say it does seem a bit flawed, on the Epic side anyway. Every other major software distribution (IOS, MACOS, Window etc.) all have preview builds for developers to test apps, and plugins before release.
Hopefully this catches the attention of Epic staff and it’s something they consider improving.
I mean, they would certainly freeze changes for final testing a little before release so it’s not unrealistic to allow plugin developers to submit during that window.
Anyway, thanks for the awesome plugin
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Electronic Nodes now works with Unreal Engine 5.6. The developer just updated it.
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