The UK’s most popular game engine is Unity. 72 percent of local studios make games using this tech.
The Independent Game Developers’ Association (TIGA) interviewed a representative 10 percent of small, medium and large UK studios. Respondents were allowed to name more than one engine of choice
Here’s how different engines ranked in the UK:
- 72% – Unity;
- 27% – Unreal Engine;
- 27% – internal proprietary engines.
The percentage of those using proprietary engines is quite high. TIGA attributes this to several factors.
First of all, such engines are more profitable in the long run.
Whilst the initial investment in developing your own game engine is greater, the technical challenges are higher and the time to start is longer, the ongoing costs tend to be lower, the general frustration level is lower and the long-term gains are greater.
Chris Kingsley OBE, CTO at Rebellion, which uses the internal proprietary engine Asura,
via MCV.
Secondly, studios initially write a game engine for their own game. It is easier to adjust it to a specific project, having full access to the source code.
Thirdly, you can use your own engine for free on the subsequent projects.
TIGA also points out that most UK studios prefer to self-publish. So when choosing among third-party engines, they gravitate towards those that best support self-publishing operations.