Game development has become increasingly accessible thanks to powerful game engines that allow developers of all levels to create and publish games. Below are the top 5 most popular game engines in use today, along with additional engines that are widely recognized in the industry.
Latest Version: Unity 2023.1 (as of July 2024)
Latest Development: Unity continues to enhance its DOTS (Data-Oriented Technology Stack), improving performance for developers. The latest version also updates the UI Toolkit and Visual Scripting, making it accessible to developers of all levels.
Programming Proficiency: Intermediate to Advanced. Unity uses C#, and familiarity with object-oriented programming is beneficial.
Documentation & Community Support: Extensive documentation and a large, active community. Unity Learn provides a wealth of tutorials.
Availability: Unity Hub (not available on Steam)
Popular Games Made with Unity:
Latest Version: Unreal Engine 5.3 (as of July 2024)
Latest Development: Unreal Engine 5 introduced Nanite and Lumen, allowing for incredibly detailed and dynamic environments. It's the go-to engine for AAA games and high-end productions.
Programming Proficiency: Intermediate to Advanced. Uses C++ for scripting, but also offers Blueprints for visual scripting.
Documentation & Community Support: Extensive documentation, robust community, and many tutorials through Unreal Academy.
Availability: Epic Games Launcher (not available on Steam)
Popular Games Made with Unreal Engine:
Latest Version: Godot 4.0 (as of July 2024)
Latest Development: Godot 4.0 brings a revamped rendering engine, Vulkan support, and enhanced 3D capabilities. It's popular among indie developers for its ease of use and powerful 2D/3D features.
Programming Proficiency: Beginner to Intermediate. Uses GDScript, similar to Python, and also supports C# and Visual Script.
Documentation & Community Support: Extensive documentation with a growing community and many tutorials available.
Availability: Available on Steam and the Godot Engine website.
Popular Games Made with Godot:
Latest Version: GameMaker Studio 2.3 (as of July 2024)
Latest Development: GameMaker Studio 2.3 introduces new animation tools, enhanced 2D capabilities, and improvements to GML (GameMaker Language).
Programming Proficiency: Beginner to Intermediate. Offers drag-and-drop for beginners and GML for advanced users.
Documentation & Community Support: Comprehensive documentation with an active community.
Availability: Available on Steam and the GameMaker Studio 2 website.
Popular Games Made with GameMaker Studio:
Latest Version: CryEngine 5.7 (as of July 2024)
Latest Development: CryEngine remains a leader in rendering technology, with strong support for VR and photorealistic environments.
Programming Proficiency: Intermediate to Advanced. Uses C++ for scripting and requires a solid understanding of game development concepts.
Documentation & Community Support: Extensive official documentation, though the community is smaller than Unity and Unreal.
Availability: Available on Steam and the CryEngine website.
Popular Games Made with CryEngine:
These additional engines are also widely recognized and used in the industry, although they do not currently rank among the top 5 most popular engines:
Latest Version: RPG Maker MZ
Programming Proficiency: Beginner. Designed for non-programmers to create 2D RPGs.
Availability: Available on Steam and the RPG Maker website.
Latest Version: Construct 3
Programming Proficiency: Beginner. Uses a visual scripting system.
Availability: Web-based via the Construct website (not available on Steam).
Latest Version: Defold
Programming Proficiency: Beginner to Intermediate. Uses Lua scripting.
Availability: Available on the Defold website (not available on Steam).
Latest Version: Cocos2d-x 4.0
Programming Proficiency: Intermediate. Uses C++ and Lua.
Availability: Available on the Cocos website (not available on Steam).
Latest Version: PICO-8
Programming Proficiency: Beginner. Uses a simplified programming language based on Lua.
Availability: Available on Steam and the PICO-8 website.