Szigeti, Rittel and Franke departed the band and was replaced by guitarist Andy Susemihl, bassist Thomas Smuzyszki and drummer Stefan Schwarzmann.

It features a cover of the Austrian pop band Supermax's hit single "Love Machine".

Line-up changes occurred during the second part of the tour with Gotthard guitarist Igor Gianola replacing Jürgen Graf.

On 24 July 2002, the eighth album Man and Machine was released, receiving a somewhat lukewarm reception.

Despite standout songs such as the title track and "Private Eye", the album was ultimately less successful than Holy.

It is notable for the song "Dancing with an Angel", featuring a duet performance of Dirkschneider and vocalist Doro Pesch.

[6][7] In August 2007, bassist Fitty Weinhold was unable to perform with the band due to "private reasons".

[20] In December 2014, drummer Francesco Jovino left the band for personal reasons, joining Primal Fear in 2015.

[27] On 24 April 2018, Hudson parted ways with the band "due to a difference in their individual visions for the future", according to Dirkschneider, adding that there was no "negative feelings on either side.

"[28][29][30][31][32] In June 2018, Stefan Kaufmann temporarily rejoined the band only for the summer festival appearances until a new guitarist was found.

[33] The sixteenth album Steelfactory was released on 31 August 2018, with the first single "Rising High" being made available for streaming.

[34] On 19 September 2018, bassist Fitty Wienhold announced his departure from U.D.O., but stated that he would remain with the band if needed.

[35] The band soon recruited German guitarist Dee Dammers and Slovenian bassist Tilen Hudrap as their new members.

's touring in Europe in early 2019, Dirkschneider performed as a handicap after experiencing left knee pain.

[37] The band was originally scheduled to perform at the Wacken Open Air festival in 2020 by performing Accept's 1985 album Metal Heart in its entirety to celebrate its 35th anniversary, with the addition of Das Musikkorps der Bundeswehr,[38] but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[42] In September 2022, bassist Tilen Hudrap got injured in Munich while playing a show during the Game Over world tour.

[46] In 2015, Udo Dirkschneider announced that he would embark on a special tour in 2016, stating that he would no longer perform Accept songs in the live shows.

[47][48] They began the Back to the Roots – Farewell to Accept tour in North America in 2017,[49] returning for a second time in 2018.