For the first time since 2018, games built on Unreal Engine out-earned Unity games on Steam, taking 31% of 2024 revenue to Unity’s 26% (Video Game Insights, The Big Game Engines Report of 2025). The inversion is the defining engine story of the moment: Unity still ships the most games on Steam at 51% of 2024 releases, yet Unreal now leads on money and on developer mindshare, where 42% named it their primary engine versus 30% for Unity (GDC, State of the Game Industry 2026). Underneath the two giants, Godot’s Steam output roughly quadrupled in two years to 2,864 titles (Godot Engine, Growth Stats 2026), and the broader market that these tools sit in was valued between $1.6 billion and $4.3 billion for 2026 depending on which firm you ask (GM Insights; Precedence Research). This analysis consolidates data from GDC, Video Game Insights, Perforce, Unity Software filings, Epic Games, the Godot Engine project, Fortune Business Insights, and 11 other primary sources to map who builds with what, and who earns from it, in 2026.
TL;DR
- Unreal Engine is now the primary engine for 42% of surveyed developers versus 30% for Unity, the first clear lead for either (GDC, State of the Game Industry 2026).
- Unity still powered 51% of 2024 Steam releases; Unreal 28%, Godot 5%, GameMaker 4%, custom engines 13% (Video Game Insights, Big Game Engines Report 2025).
- Unreal games earned 31% of 2024 Steam revenue against Unity’s 26%, out-earning Unity for the first time since 2018 (Video Game Insights, Big Game Engines Report 2025).
- Godot games on Steam grew from 618 (2023-24) to 2,864 (2025-26), roughly 4.6x in two years (Godot Engine, Growth Stats 2026 / SteamDB).
- Unity reported $1.85 billion in FY2025 revenue, with the engine-inclusive Create segment at $621 million (Unity Software, FY2025 results).
- Epic has paid Fortnite and UEFN creators more than $1 billion since 2023 (Epic Games, State of Unreal 2026).
- The global game engine market was valued between roughly $1.5 billion and $3.65 billion for 2025, depending on methodology (GM Insights; Precedence Research; Fortune Business Insights).
- In Perforce’s survey, Unreal adoption reached 65% and Unity 53% across gaming and non-gaming industries in 2025 (Perforce, State of Game Technology 2025).
- Custom in-house engines fell from 71% of Steam releases in 2012 to 13% in 2024 (Video Game Insights, Big Game Engines Report 2025).
- Unreal Engine 5 accounted for 72% of all new Unreal releases on Steam in 2024 (Video Game Insights, Big Game Engines Report 2025).
1. The Game Engine Market: Size and Divergent Forecasts
No two research firms agree on how big the game engine market is, and the gap is wide enough to matter. Fortune Business Insights pegged the 2025 market at $3.43 billion and 2026 at $3.87 billion, while GM Insights put 2025 at just $1.5 billion, more than a twofold spread that reflects different definitions of what counts as engine revenue versus adjacent tooling and services. What the firms agree on is direction and geography: double-digit growth for most, North America in the lead, and 3D engines dominating over 2D. Treat any single market-size number as a modeling artifact, not a measurement.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Global game engine market, 2025 | $3.43 billion | Fortune Business Insights, Game Engine Market 2026 |
| Global game engine market, 2026 | $3.87 billion (13.1% CAGR to 2034) | Fortune Business Insights, Game Engine Market 2026 |
| Global game engine market, 2026 (alt.) | $4.33 billion (18.53% CAGR to 2035) | Precedence Research, Game Engine Market 2026 |
| Global game engine market, 2025 (alt.) | ~$1.5 billion (6.8% CAGR) | GM Insights, Game Engine Market 2026 |
| North America market share, 2025 | 35.60% | Fortune Business Insights, Game Engine Market 2026 |
| Mobile platform segment share, 2026 | 42.85% | Fortune Business Insights, Game Engine Market 2026 |
| 3D game engine segment share, 2026 | 64.82% | Fortune Business Insights, Game Engine Market 2026 |
| Subscription-licensing revenue, 2025 | $528.5 million | Market.us, Game Engines Market 2025 |
Outlier: Precedence Research forecasts the market reaching $19.98 billion by 2035, while GM Insights sees only $2.9 billion by the same year, so pick the source, not the consensus (Precedence Research 2026; GM Insights 2026).
2. Steam Market Share: Releases vs. Revenue
The single most useful engine dataset is Steam, because release counts and revenue are both observable. The lesson is that volume and money live in different places. Unity shipped 51% of 2024 Steam releases but earned only 26% of revenue, while Unreal shipped 28% and earned 31%, and custom in-house engines, just 13% of releases, still captured 41% of all money because the biggest studios keep their own tech. That custom-engine revenue share dipped below 50% for the first time since 2014, a sign that Unreal is absorbing high-end projects that once ran on proprietary code.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Unity share of 2024 Steam releases | 51% | Video Game Insights, Big Game Engines Report 2025 |
| Unreal share of 2024 Steam releases | 28% | Video Game Insights, Big Game Engines Report 2025 |
| Godot share of 2024 Steam releases | 5% | Video Game Insights, Big Game Engines Report 2025 |
| GameMaker share of 2024 Steam releases | 4% | Video Game Insights, Big Game Engines Report 2025 |
| Custom-engine share of 2024 Steam revenue | 41% (below 50% first time since 2014) | Video Game Insights, Big Game Engines Report 2025 |
| Unreal share of 2024 Steam revenue | 31% (first time above Unity since 2018) | Video Game Insights, Big Game Engines Report 2025 |
| Custom-engine share of Steam releases, 2012 vs 2024 | 71% to 13% | Video Game Insights, Big Game Engines Report 2025 |
| Unreal games released on Steam, 2025 | 3,358 (17,268 cumulative) | SteamDB, Unreal Engine releases |
Context: UE5 reached 72% of all new Unreal releases on Steam in 2024, so the modern Unreal footprint is now overwhelmingly version 5 (Video Game Insights, Big Game Engines Report 2025). For how these engine choices flow into budgets and staffing, see our game development statistics roundup.
3. What Developers Actually Use
Two surveys ran in parallel and told a consistent story with different framings. GDC asks for the single primary engine; Perforce asks which engines are used at all. Unreal leads both: 42% primary share at GDC and 65% overall usage at Perforce, versus Unity at 30% and 53% respectively. The split by studio size is sharper than the headline: Unreal dominates AA studios at 59% and AAA at 47%, while a 54% majority of older indie studios still build on Unity, reflecting years of accumulated tooling and habit rather than a fresh technical verdict.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Unreal as primary engine (developers) | 42% | GDC, State of the Game Industry 2026 |
| Unity as primary engine (developers) | 30% | GDC, State of the Game Industry 2026 |
| Unreal use at AA studios | 59% | GDC, State of the Game Industry 2026 |
| Unreal use at AAA studios | 47% | GDC, State of the Game Industry 2026 |
| Older indie studios still on Unity | 54% | GDC, State of the Game Industry 2026 |
| Unreal overall adoption (all industries) | 65% (up from 63%) | Perforce, State of Game Technology 2025 |
| Unity overall adoption (all industries) | 53% (up from 47%) | Perforce, State of Game Technology 2025 |
| GDC survey respondents | 2,300+ professionals | GDC, State of the Game Industry 2026 |
Note: the Perforce survey covered 521 professionals across gaming, film, automotive, and manufacturing, and found roughly half now use game engines outside of games entirely (Perforce, State of Game Technology 2025). Aggregator 6sense, cross-referencing a different customer base, estimated Unity at 23.91% and Unreal at 15.98% of the broader game-development software market.
4. Godot’s Breakout
Godot is the fastest-growing engine by nearly every open metric, and unlike Unity or Unreal it is free and MIT-licensed with no revenue cut. The momentum is real but starts from a small base. Godot games on Steam rose from 618 in 2023-24 to 2,864 in 2025-26, roughly 4.6x in two years, while the project’s GitHub stars climbed 21-fold since 2016 and its main subreddit grew nearly tenfold since 2020. Search interest compounding at 45% a year suggests the pipeline of new Godot developers is still filling, not plateauing.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Godot games on Steam, 2023-24 to 2025-26 | 618 to 2,864 (~4.6x) | Godot Engine, Growth Stats 2026 |
| GitHub stars, 2016 vs 2026 | 5,100 to 107,726 (21x) | Ziva, Godot Growth Stats 2026 |
| r/godot subscribers, 2020 vs 2026 | 30,000 to 296,000 (9.9x) | Ziva, Godot Growth Stats 2026 |
| Search interest CAGR since 2022 | 45% annually (~5x in 4 years) | Ziva, Godot Growth Stats 2026 |
| Downloads per release | ~2 million | Godot Engine, Growth Stats 2026 |
| Godot share of GMTK game jam entries | ~40% | Godot Engine, Growth Stats 2026 |
| Godot adoption in automotive/manufacturing, 2025 | 21% (from 9% overall in 2024) | Perforce, State of Game Technology 2025 |
Context: the Godot Development Fund has run since September 2023 and, per the project, provides steady monthly income to pay a small core team, though most work is still volunteer (Godot Engine, Growth Stats 2026). Godot’s rise is tightly bound to the indie scene, covered in our indie game statistics roundup.
5. Unity: Financials, the Runtime Fee, and the Turn
Unity’s numbers describe a company stabilizing after a self-inflicted crisis. FY2025 revenue was $1.85 billion, up just 2%, but the net loss narrowed to $401.5 million from $664.3 million a year earlier, and the engine-inclusive Create segment grew to $621 million. The 2023 runtime-fee proposal, which would have charged up to $0.20 per install, drove developers to publicly threaten migration to Unreal and Godot; new CEO Matt Bromberg canceled it in 2024. Unity’s mobile grip remains its strongest card, with the company claiming most top-grossing mobile titles.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Unity total revenue, FY2025 | $1.85 billion (+2%) | Unity Software, FY2025 Financial Results |
| Create Solutions revenue, FY2025 | $621 million | Unity Software, FY2025 Financial Results |
| Grow Solutions revenue, FY2025 | $1.2 billion | Unity Software, FY2025 Financial Results |
| Net loss, 2025 vs 2024 | $401.5 million vs $664.3 million | Unity Software, FY2025 Financial Results |
| Q4 2025 revenue | $503 million (+10%) | Unity Software, FY2025 Financial Results |
| Unity developer base | 7 million (2 million monthly active) | Unity, 2026 Game Development Report |
| Median project development time, 2022 vs 2025 | 91 hours to 21 hours (-77%) | Unity, 2026 Game Development Report |
| Proposed runtime fee (canceled) | up to $0.20 per install | Unity, Runtime Fee Cancellation |
Note: Unity’s own marketing claims 82 of the top 100 mobile games and roughly 70% of top mobile titles run on its engine; these are vendor figures, not independent audits (Unity, via App Radar 2026). Unity’s revenue rebound leaned on its Vector AI ad platform, which produced 56% of Grow segment revenue in Q4 2025 (Unity Software, FY2025 results); for engine-side AI adoption trends, see our AI in gaming statistics roundup.
6. Unreal Engine and the Epic Ecosystem
Unreal’s advantage is no longer just the engine; it is the economy attached to it. Epic has paid Fortnite and UEFN creators more than $1 billion since 2023, and creator-made islands now drive 47% of all Fortnite playtime, up from 38% a year earlier (Epic Games, State of Unreal 2026). On licensing, Epic keeps a 5% royalty only on game revenue above $1 million per title and, since mid-2025, waives royalties on the first $1 million entirely, while non-game users pay a $1,850 per-seat annual fee. Epic’s company-wide revenue was estimated near $5.7 billion for 2024, though a 2025 Fortnite engagement dip preceded layoffs of more than 1,000 staff in early 2026.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| UEFN creator payouts since 2023 | $1 billion+ | Epic Games, State of Unreal 2026 (PocketGamer) |
| Creators paid in 2024 | $352 million ($324 million via UEFN) | Epic Games, State of Unreal 2026 |
| Fortnite creator-island share of playtime | 47% (up from 38%) | Epic Games, State of Unreal 2026 |
| Fortnite monthly active users | 75 million+ | Epic Games, State of Unreal 2026 |
| Unreal royalty rate | 5% above $1M lifetime revenue per title | PC Gamer, Unreal royalty change 2025 |
| Unreal non-game seat license | $1,850 per seat / year | PC Gamer / Epic Games, 2025 |
| Epic Games estimated revenue, 2024 | ~$5.7 billion (+10%) | Sacra, Epic Games revenue 2026 |
| Epic Games Store player spending, 2025 | $1.16 billion | Sacra, Epic Games revenue 2026 |
Outlier: more than 3,000 Fortnite islands now earn revenue primarily through in-island transactions, and over 75% of in-game transactions come from non-battle-royale creator games (Epic Games, State of Unreal 2026). For the storefront side of Epic’s business, see our Epic Games Store statistics roundup.
Summary: Game Engines by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Unreal as primary engine (developers) | 42% | GDC, State of the Game Industry 2026 |
| Unity as primary engine (developers) | 30% | GDC, State of the Game Industry 2026 |
| Unity share of 2024 Steam releases | 51% | Video Game Insights, Big Game Engines Report 2025 |
| Unreal share of 2024 Steam revenue | 31% (first above Unity since 2018) | Video Game Insights, Big Game Engines Report 2025 |
| Custom-engine share of releases, 2012 vs 2024 | 71% to 13% | Video Game Insights, Big Game Engines Report 2025 |
| Unreal games released on Steam, 2025 | 3,358 (17,268 cumulative) | SteamDB, 2026 |
| Game engines used beyond gaming | ~50% of surveyed pros | Perforce, State of Game Technology 2025 |
| Godot games on Steam, 2023-24 to 2025-26 | 618 to 2,864 | Godot Engine, Growth Stats 2026 / SteamDB |
| Godot GitHub stars, 2016 vs 2026 | 5,100 to 107,726 | Ziva, Godot Growth Stats 2026 |
| North America share of engine market, 2025 | 35.60% | Fortune Business Insights, 2026 |
| Unreal overall adoption (all industries) | 65% | Perforce, State of Game Technology 2025 |
| Unity overall adoption (all industries) | 53% | Perforce, State of Game Technology 2025 |
| Global game engine market, 2026 | $3.87 billion (Fortune) to $1.6 billion (GM Insights) | Fortune Business Insights; GM Insights, 2026 |
| Unity total revenue, FY2025 | $1.85 billion (+2%) | Unity Software, FY2025 Financial Results |
| Unity Create Solutions revenue, FY2025 | $621 million | Unity Software, FY2025 Financial Results |
| Unity net loss, 2025 | $401.5 million | Unity Software, FY2025 Financial Results |
| Proposed Unity runtime fee (canceled) | up to $0.20 per install | Unity, Runtime Fee Cancellation 2024 |
| UEFN creator payouts since 2023 | $1 billion+ | Epic Games, State of Unreal 2026 |
| Fortnite creator-island share of playtime | 47% | Epic Games, State of Unreal 2026 |
| Epic Games estimated revenue, 2024 | ~$5.7 billion | Sacra, Epic Games revenue 2026 |
Methodology and Sources
Data was gathered by querying and cross-referencing primary industry surveys, company financial disclosures, engine-project reports, and market-research publications from 2025 and 2026, prioritizing original datasets over secondary reporting and flagging figures older than 2024 or based on vendor claims.
Sources cited:
- GDC, State of the Game Industry 2026 - survey of 2,300+ industry professionals
- Video Game Insights / Sensor Tower, The Big Game Engines Report of 2025 - Steam release and revenue data through 2024
- Video Game Insights, Game Engines on Steam (2025)
- SteamDB, Steam Game Releases Summary for Unreal Engine (2026)
- Perforce, 2025 State of Game Technology Report - survey of 521 professionals with JetBrains
- Godot Engine, Godot Usage and Engine Growth (2026)
- Ziva, Godot Engine Adoption and Popularity Stats (2026) - compiles Godot, GitHub, and SteamDB data
- 80.lv, Godot Sees Major Growth in Adoption (2026)
- Unity Software, Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results
- Unity, 2026 Game Development Report
- Unity, Unity Is Canceling the Runtime Fee (2024)
- Epic Games, State of Unreal 2026 / UEFN payouts (via PocketGamer)
- PC Gamer, Unreal Engine royalty threshold change (2025)
- Sacra, Epic Games revenue and valuation (2026)
- Fortune Business Insights, Game Engine Market (2026)
- Precedence Research, Game Engine Market (2026)
- GM Insights, Game Engine Market (2026)
- Market.us, Game Engines Market (2025); 6sense, game-development market share (2026); and App Radar / Unity mobile vendor claims (2026), all flagged inline as aggregator or vendor figures
Data watch: GDC publishes its State of the Game Industry survey each January ahead of the conference, so a 2027 edition is expected in Q1 2027; Perforce releases its State of Game Technology report annually; Video Game Insights and SteamDB update Steam engine data continuously; the Godot project publishes growth stats roughly yearly; and Unity reports new financials quarterly, with the next results due within the current quarter.
Last updated: July 14, 2026.
We review and update this page quarterly as new data is published.