Godot 4.6 released with Jolt Physics and a new editor
Godot 4.6 landed on January 27, following through on the Q1 2026 preview we covered earlier. The release is one of the most feature-dense in the engine's history, and the changes matter for web developers specifically.
What shipped
Jolt Physics is now the default. Every new 3D project in Godot 4.6 uses Jolt, the same physics engine behind Death Stranding 2. Jolt has been available as an experimental option since 4.4, but this release makes it the standard. For web exports, Jolt's performance profile is noticeably better than the old GodotPhysics backend.
Modern editor theme. The new default theme, based on the community-favorite Godot Minimal Theme by passivestar, replaces the classic blue-tinted interface. Clean lines, improved spacing, grayscale palette for color-sensitive work. It's a visual refresh that keeps focus on the viewport.
Unified docking system. Panels can now be moved between sides and bottom freely, and most docks support floating windows. You can rearrange the editor layout to match how you actually work.
Screen Space Reflections overhaul. The SSR system got a full rewrite with improved roughness handling, better visual stability, and a half-resolution rendering mode for performance on constrained hardware.
LibGodot. You can now embed Godot as a library inside other applications. Initial support covers Linux, Windows, and macOS. This opens the door for using Godot as a rendering or game logic layer inside custom tools, launchers, or entirely different applications.
Other changes worth noting: unique node IDs that survive scene reorganization, delta encoding for smaller patch updates, rotatable TileMap tiles, in-game speed controls for testing, and C++ tracing profiler support.
What it means for web developers
Godot's web story has improved every release since 4.3 introduced single-threaded export. The 4.6 release continues that trajectory. Jolt's better performance matters when you're running physics in a browser. The SSR half-resolution mode helps on mobile web. And LibGodot's embedding capability could eventually let you run Godot scenes inside existing web applications, though web support for LibGodot hasn't been confirmed yet.