Game engines are the foundation of video games, as they are responsible for all technical components, sound, visuals, physics, and many other important aspects. The technical and visual capabilities of a game directly depend on the engine.
At the beginning of the video game industry, developers created games from scratch, writing code for each individual project. In the 1990s, the term "game engine" appeared for the first time, but it mainly referred to first-person shooters. This was due to the overwhelming popularity of Doom and Quake, developed by id Software using the id Tech engine. As a result, other developers simply purchased a license for the core part of the software, making changes to the graphics, characters, and other details. This marked the beginning of the development of universal platforms that simplified the game creation process.
Interestingly, another significant contribution to the development of the video game industry was made by id Software. Its engine was among the first, and new gaming engines built on id Tech are still being developed. For example, DOOM: The Dark Ages, released in May 2025, was developed using the eighth version of this engine.
Thus, the game engine is the foundation of a game - it accelerates and, in some cases, simplifies the development of a title. Today, the most commonly used engines by developers are Unreal Engine and Unity, which we will discuss in more detail shortly.
Unreal Engine
The Unreal Engine history began in 1998, when Epic Games released the first part of the 3D shooter Unreal, which was built on their UE. It became the foundation for many iconic games, including Splinter Cell, Deus Ex, and Lineage II. From the very beginning, UE focused on graphical technologies, but as it evolved, new features were introduced that only made it better.
Today, Unreal Engine allows developers to create projects for any platform (PC, mobile devices, consoles, VR, Web3). At the same time, its creators have continuously improved the graphics capabilities, giving games an incredible level of photorealism - enabled by technologies such as:
- Lumen – allows for the creation of dynamic lighting with real-time changes, and also enables light to interact with objects in a realistic way. The introduction of this feature simplified the developers’ work with in-game lighting.
- Nanite – is responsible for visual geometry. It reduces detail at a distance, which improves performance while maintaining visual quality. It also optimizes loading and rendering of complex scenes.
It’s also worth mentioning the MetaHuman tool, which is integrated into Unreal Engine. This technology helps create realistic 3D characters with facial expressions and animations, simplifying the process of building NPCs. MetaHuman also supports live facial animation, which can even be captured using an iPhone. Thanks to MetaHuman Animator + Live Link, developers can animate and voice various characters using real facial expressions and movement.
In Unreal Engine, it's possible to create realistic NPC behavior even with a small development team. There is the capability to build a world where NPCs make decisions independently, react to player actions, and respond to events in the game world. All of this is implemented using tools such as AI Controller, Behavior Trees, Perception System, and EQS (Environment Query System).
With the advancement of artificial intelligence, Unreal Engine 5 has introduced more and more features that allow developers to use AI to speed up animation creation and world design. Unreal Engine also supports integration with external AI systems that assist in generating various types of content.
The engine includes a Procedural Content Generation (PCG) system. Thanks to this, developers can generate landscapes with automatically placed vegetation, cities, ruins, and many other elements. AI not only aids in the generation process but can also optimize world structures so that everything looks coherent and logical.
Of course, Unreal Engine is not without its drawbacks. For instance, the engine requires fairly powerful hardware to efficiently handle its wide range of features. Additionally, the projects themselves tend to be quite large in size due to the high-quality assets and the use of advanced technologies.
The Unreal Engine itself is free for anyone to use. However, once the revenue from a game created with UE exceeds $1 million, developers are required to pay a 5% royalty to Epic Games.
In summary, it’s safe to say that Unreal Engine is an excellent game engine that combines artistic freedom with technical flexibility in project development. Developers are actively integrating AI technologies into the engine, which allows it to evolve and offers new opportunities for faster game development. Beyond that, Unreal Engine is increasingly being used not only in the video game industry but also in architecture for creating 3D models, in film production, education, healthcare for VR simulations, and other fields.
Unity
The history of another popular game engine - Unity - began in 2005. This engine was created with the goal of making game development accessible to a wider range of creators. It supports the development of both 2D and 3D games for a large number of platforms, ranging from PCs to automotive systems.
The engine uses the main programming languages C++ and C#. Unity also offers a large plugin library and an active community, which helped the engine become the top choice for mobile game development and indie projects.
As of 2025, Unity remains the leading choice for creating mobile games. This is supported by continuous updates to the engine - with the release of the sixth version, there have been major improvements in graphical technologies, the addition of AI support, and enhanced performance.
One of the main reasons why Unity is often chosen by small developers is the ability to use the engine for free through the Unity Personal version. Of course, larger studios may opt for Unity Pro, which offers additional features, but even the basic version allows developers to bring their ideas to life. Additionally, if the engine is used for educational purposes, it is also free of charge.
The support for Visual Scripting makes Unity even more appealing to developers with little to no programming experience but a strong desire to create something. Visual Scripting allows the creation of game logic without writing code, using node-based systems that handle animations, movement, events, and many other functions. This encourages beginners or enthusiasts without a technical background to develop games using Unity.
The future of Unity lies in the active development of AI technologies, which will help accelerate the creation of projects. The current focus is on automatic code generation, visual content development, and NPC behavior.
Recently, Unity introduced Unity AI - an AI assistant integrated into the engine. It can write code, explain errors, help with code optimization, generate scripts based on descriptions, and offer useful suggestions. Through text prompts, developers can now create various sound effects, animations, and much more.
Unity also features integration with Web3 and the metaverse. The engine supports Verified SDKs for blockchain integration and is laying the groundwork for the development of the next-generation metaverse.
Thus, Unity is all about flexibility, accessibility, and the ability to bring ideas to life without requiring deep programming knowledge. The engine already includes templates that allow developers to create their own games in genres such as indie, runner, platformer, and roguelike. And despite its already vast capabilities, the developers have no plans to slow down and continue to push Unity forward.
Other Game Engines Worth Watching
Godot
Godot is a relatively new game engine, with its first version released in 2014. It is currently gaining popularity, especially among indie developers and studios with limited budgets. This engine allows the creation of both 2D and 3D games for PC and mobile platforms. For many, the main advantages of Godot lie in its modular architecture and its intuitive, user-friendly visual scene editor.
The engine offers all the essential features needed to develop modern games - including physics support, UI development tools, modern rendering, lighting and shadow support, post-processing, and much more. Despite this robust functionality, Godot is completely free to use, with no licensing fees or royalties required.
The developers of Godot continue to improve the engine. With each new version, its performance increases, and new tools are added - attracting more and more interest from indie developers.
Among the drawbacks, it's worth noting that the engine doesn't yet have a large developer community, and it also has fewer resources and documentation compared to more established engines like Unity or Unreal.
CryEngine
The CryEngine engine was released by Crytek in 2002, and it was used to create the first part of Far Cry. This engine draws attention with its photorealistic graphics, and it also enables excellent lighting, shading, depth of field effects, and many other features.
Additionally, CryEngine allows for the creation of realistic object interaction within space, thanks to its built-in physics system. The "Sandbox" editor makes creating and editing the game world easier.
CryEngine is primarily suited for developing first-person shooters with interactive and open worlds. However, it has the drawback of being difficult to master, making it easier to use for experienced developers. It is also noted that the engine is not very well adapted for mobile projects. Because of all this, the CryEngine community is not very large.
Amazon Lumberyard / O3DE
Now we will look at the Open 3D Engine. Interestingly, it was originally called Amazon Lumberyard and was developed based on CryEngine; later, it evolved into O3DE. An advantage of the engine is its open architecture, which allows it to be adapted to developers' needs and to create a game of any complexity based on it. It is suitable for projects on Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, and macOS.
O3DE has a powerful visual editor, scripting system, advanced physics, and modular structure. Developers also have broad customization options, and there is no licensing fee. The engine also supports integration with cloud services and VR/AR platforms, features high-quality rendering, and cinematic tools.
The engine has support for Amazon Web Services (AWS), which allows cloud services to be integrated without the need to develop complex service logic. There is also integrated support for Twitch, which enables the creation of interactive games for broadcast viewers.
The community sees great potential in this engine, noting that its creators are constantly updating it and expanding the possibilities for working with it. The painstaking work on the Open 3D Engine will eventually allow it to compete with Unity and Unreal Engine and become one of the leading engines in the video game industry.
Summary
When we talk about the future of game engines, it is clear that they will continue to develop actively. One of the main directions will be the implementation of AI for working on code, generating levels, dialogues, and much more. This will speed up game development and provide new opportunities for small developers.
Cloud tools such as Unity Cloud and Pixel Streaming from Unreal will also continue to develop. Thanks to this, it will be possible to work on projects, test, and launch games without local hardware.
So, over time, newest game engines may become platforms not only for working on games but also for developing interactive content, creating various visualizations, and architectural renderings.
