The big choice for game developers: Unity versus Unreal
A quick overview of the the two popular game engines
Perhaps the biggest dilemma facing every indie developer when creating a new game is which game engine to work with. The two biggest names out there are Unity Engine and Unreal Engine.
Both provide amazing tools, and most of the time you can’t identify which engine a game was built in just by playing it. But there are definitely big differences on the developer’s side of things.
A quick summary:
Unity
Unity was founded in 2004 with the main purpose of turning game development accessible not only for big companies, but also for small studios and indie game developers. It uses C# as a coding language, making it easy to learn and use, instead of the previous JavaScript called UnityScript, which was deprecated in August 2017, after the release of Unity 2017.1, in favor of C#. Plus, it offers a lot of tutorials and courses to help you and, if you’re still struggling, Unity has a big community behind it that is ready to help.
Considering all these features, Unity is a great choice for smaller studios and people trying to get their first steps into game development.
Some of the biggest titles made with Unity:
Unreal
Unreal was launched in 1998 by Epic Games, followed by the well-known game “Unreal Tournament” in 1999. Unreal engine has always been known for his amazing graphic quality, widely used for most of the top AAA games.
Unlike Unity, Unreal’s coding language (C++) is more complex and there’s still no big community behind it. However, it remains a powerhouse of game development since it pushes graphics to the highest while keeping the whole program’s efficiency, which makes Unreal a solid choice for any game developer.
Some of the biggest titles made with Unreal Engine:
Conclusion
At the end of the day, the right game engine for you will depend on what kind of game you want to build. One is not better than the other. Both of them have good and not-so-good features.
If you want to build simple puzzle games, 3D platformers, logic games, and even first-person shooters, or if you’re just starting to get into game development, Unity is the way to go, due to its simplified UI and very well developed and intuitive tools.
If you are planning on making AAA games, have C++ coding language knowledge and preferably some experience with 3D programs, Unreal Engine may be the right fit. It’s true that Unity is still the best choice for indie developers due to its simplicity. However, it isn’t exactly free, and the new revenue model from Unreal aims at filling this gap. Unity is not longer the cheapest engine out there and the only one providing a good support, thus it is expected that more indie developers migrate from Unity to Unreal.
For a more in-depth discussion of the two big gaming engines, including a look at the learning curve, graphics, and toolbox for each engine, please check out the longer version of this article on the official BlockBastards blog here.
