Advantages & Disadvantages of Game Development Tools

Top gaming tools are emerging as the best choice for game developers to develop games for mobile and PC with great ease. Earlier, developers needed to write every single line of code each time they developed an Android or iOS video game. 

Today, thanks to modern tools, they can now develop video games conveniently. Such game engines will enable game developers to embark on a creative and energizing experience. 

Due to a large number of benefits, the majority of game developers are opting for engines and tools to create class apart games like the web and mobile gaming apps. There are different types of useful tools for game development that is becoming trending in the industry, including Unity, Unreal, Hero Engine, Cocos 2D, etc. 

Intrigued to know the advantages and disadvantages of the best game development tools? Fret not, in this blog, you will find a full-fledged list of the top 10 game engines that are being used by game developers. 

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List of Top 10 Game Tools in 2024

Online gaming engines have their own share of advantages and disadvantages that made them unique and exceptional. Here we have created a list of the top game engines that you must check out: 

1. Unity 

Unity is considered to be one of the best game engines for Android, iOS and Windows mobile platforms. The Unity engine supports both 2D and 3D game development. With high-end features, graphics and quick gameplay, this tool is highly preferred by developers for developing all sorts of games; from basic 2D to complex 3D video games. With cross-platform compatibility, Unity-based games can run on a wide range of screens and platforms.

Being the leading mobile game development company, BR Softech has a team of Android and iOS game developers who understand the requirements of the clients before developing feature-rich mobile apps. We use the Unity game engine to develop end-to-end mobile game solutions. 

Advantages Of Unity Engine

• It is among the best indie game engine that has a huge community of assets and plugin developers. 
  
• Game developers can also expand Unity’s functionality with plug-ins. It offers game developers an editing environment that is superior to all others.
  
• It can easily convert a wide variety of asset formats to the most appropriate format for the target platform.
  
• The engine supports supreme-quality visual and audio effects that simplify the game development process. 
  
• It also supports an elite range of operating systems and platforms, like mobile, desktop, and gaming consoles.
  
• This game engine is available under a free license and has the best-in-class game development features. Even the paid licenses of Unity are also cost-effective for professional game developers. Unity offers three subscription plans for game development companies as follows. 
  
• Plus: $399/per seat
• Pro: $1800/per seat
• Enterprise: $4,000/per 20 seat

Image source: store.unity.com

Disadvantages of Unity Engine

• There are a number of features in the Unity game engine which are good but the documentation is outdated, making the tool difficult to use by video game developers. 
  
• Unity is a C++-based game engine, therefore mobile game developers need to have knowledge of the C++ programming language to begin using it. Hence this is not a preferable video game engine for beginners.
  
• The developers are not able to get the complete source code of the Unity game development project, thus it is a difficult task for them to find, address and fix bugs in the source code. 
  
• If any kind of bug arises then you will have to wait for a long time until this particular issue is addressed by the company itself.
  
• The games developed on the Unity game engine require plenty of storage space which leads to creating OOM errors. 

Read Blog: Top 30 Trending Offline Games for iPhone and iPad to Play in (2024)

2. Unreal Game Engine

This is one of the top game engine, which supports languages like C++. The developer can easily create games with the help of blueprints, a visual programming interface where you can develop games without writing traditional coding. 

Unreal Engine is equipped with a range of powerful tools, making it one of the best game engines available in the market. Some of the most popular games built on Unreal Engine are Robo Recall, PUBG, Infinity Blade, and so on. 

Advantages of Unreal Engine

• Unreal Engine has got a vast community to support you with all the problems you will come across while using this open-source gaming development tool. 

• The game engine is known for developing high-tech AAA games, thanks to its features and different types of high-quality graphics. 

• As mentioned earlier, Unreal Engine has a great development support system named Blueprints. This system allows the developers to build the game without having any prior programming knowledge. Hence, Unreal Engine is the best video game engine for beginners. 

• The Unreal Engine has an open source code, which means you can expect the best level of security and convenient development workflow.  Another selling point of the Unreal Engine is its ability to develop cross-platform games for operating systems such as Android and iOS.

Disadvantages Of The Unreal Game Development Engine

• For small game development projects, Unreal Engine is not a good choice and would not be suitable.  
  
• It is generally a somewhat old-fashioned gaming engine when compared to the other kinds of leading game engines in the world.
  
• It has some complicated tools which become hard-to-learn-thing for beginners. 
  
• The price of the platform is also too high for many game developers. Once your gross annual revenue has reached $5,000, you are required to pay Unreal Engine 5% of that revenue. 

3. Hero Engine

This is yet another best game development platform that has got a high reputation from the huge online gaming community and also from console gamers too. This particular gaming engine is packed with a wide variety of gaming features having the best-in-class interface and generating an impressive graphic output. In its claims, HeroEngine calls itself the first and only completely integrated online game engine that integrates both the client and server sides of game design seamlessly directly into the mobile game development process. 

Advantages of Hero Engine

• It has the best range of APIs which makes it a great game development engine with a myriad of features for game developers.
  
• It also includes open-world maps and also the best transition too which fits well as per your needs.
  
• It also includes the best scripting feature for giving good shape to tough missions and also putting class resources into optimum use.
  
• It has Cloud Support with HeroCloud as per the client-server that is highly scalable and can be tightly integrated with your game development project.

Disadvantages of Hero Engine

• The major drawback of this game engine is that it has a high learning curve for any new game developer.
  
• This particular gaming engine with the backup of the cloud is generally quite costly for game startups.
  
• Lacks in Scripting.

4. Cocos2D

Cocos 2D is one of the well-known online game engines that offers support for both 2D and 3D video game creation. This mobile game engine is loaded with a range of features such as graphics rendering, amazing graphic outcomes, physics, and user input which makes this game engine highly favoured by game developers. Cocos 2D game engine has got different versions which are also supporting a wide range of programming languages which include C#, C++, Java, JavaScript, and the Ruby platform.

Advantages of Cocos2D

• This is the best-in-class tool, which supports multiple mobile gaming platforms. 
  
• This is available for free and open-source under the MIT license.
  
• Cocos2D also includes different kinds of extensions and tools.
  
• Includes realistic graphics and features that make the mobile game apps function streamlined and seamless. 
  
• Quality-oriented online support community.

Disadvantages of Cocos2D

• There is no dedicated support system for fixing any kind of bugs that arise and other different issues.
  
• It does not include a better coding structure and the APIs are also not outdated when compared to the 2D gaming engines.

5. CryEngine

CryEngine is one of the best game engines for iPhone, macOS, and Android that helps developers to achieve the highest quality game development experience. It is loved by the developers as it has the graphic output plus a wide array of quality gaming features including 3D HDR lens flares, physics-based rendering, an advanced AI game development system and so much more. Just like the above-discussed top game engines, CryEngine has also got some advantages and some disadvantages.

Advantages of CryEngine 

• Getting started with the CryEngine is an easy process, as it has a less learning curve and offers the full source code, clear tutorials, and detailed documentation to guide developers through its features. 
  
• CryEngine is equipped with quality-oriented audio transaction layers that allow you to choose the music that goes well with the game theme.
  
• If you are new to the game development field then there are various classes of handy tools available for you to develop game apps with impressive User Interfaces.

Disadvantages of CryEngine

• For this particular game engine, there is not a much better class support facility if a free version of the engine is being considered.
  
• Moreover, this game engine is a new one and does not have much support from the online support community for developers.

Read Blog: AAA Game Development Cost: Everything You Need to Know

6. Godot

Godot is a 2D game engine that offers many features for developing 2D games. It offers a collection of gaming tools that facilitate the development process. One of the best features of Godot is that it has a seamless user interface and can also be used to develop simple 3D games. Moreover, it can also be used to export games to major desktop systems and mobile, web, and console platforms. 

Advantages of Godot

• Flexible screen system which helps in the creation of nodes for compositions. 
• Godot also features built-in nodes which are very useful for game designing. 
• Developers can create custom tools with the tool system. 
• MSAA and FXAA support for rendering
• Developers can design real-time graphics with a global illumination system.

Disadvantages of Godot

• A weak point in 2D physics
• Some scenes and assets could be clearer with proper rhythm in the context. 
• Not a lot of top chartbuster games are developed by Godot. 

7. Amazon Lumberyard

Launched in 2016, Lumberyard is a cross-platform game engine developed by Amazon. Lumberyard is based on the Cry Engine and has updated several features of Cry and updates the others, like Double Helix networking code. The game engine supports PhysX 4.1 from NVIDIA and also enabled developers to access Emotion FX Animation Editor to build dynamic simulations of animation. 

Advantages of Amazon Lumberyard

• Lumberyard is a highly flexible open-source mobile game engine that can be used to develop simple 2D games and extremely complex AAA game titles. 
• It is one of the best game engines for developing AAA games. 
• One of the best features of Lumberyard is that it can be used by beginner developers as well as professionals. 
• It is an open-source game engine
• Amazon Lumberyard offers round-the-clock support.

Disadvantages of Amazon Lumberyard

• Not suitable for simple projects. It is a hefty engine that is suitable for big projects.
• Lumberyard doesn’t have a lot of online resources and documentation. 
• Because it is a relatively new platform, it is tough to set up a development team for this particular game engine. 

8. Stencyl

Stencyl is a mobile game engine that is suitable for both beginners and professionals. It is an easy-to-use game engine that doesn’t require any prior programming knowledge. It offers various features like Drag and Drop, an in-built photo editor, and many pre-built game behaviours that make game development an easy task. One of the best features of Stencyl is that it facilitates the development of quick prototypes for your clients.

Advantages of Stencyl

• It features a user-friendly interface which makes it easier for newcomers to navigate and use the game engine. 
• The game engine offers pre-built game logic and objects that can be reused and remixed. 
• People with no technical knowledge can build games with Stencyl. 
• It supports multiple platforms including Android, iOS, PC, Console, etc. 
• Multiple features including Drag and Drop and in-built photo editor.

Disadvantages of Stencyl

• The free version of Stencyl offers limited functionality and is not suitable for big projects. 
• The cost of the Indie and Studio versions of the cross-platform game engine is unaffordable for overseas game companies. 
• Lacks Robustness as there is no support for 3D games and causes lag when too many assets are involved.

9. GameMaker Studio 2

GameMaker Studio 2 is a 2D game engine that is used to make 3D top-down or side-view games. It is one of the most popular game engines that is used to develop Indie games. 

It also features a drag-and-drop feature that allows for faster game development. Developers can easily create games without any technical knowledge or prior coding experience. The development tool also offers plenty more features by upgrading to the Master and Professional versions. 

Advantages of GameMaker Studio 2

• The gaming engine offers various online resources in the form of tutorials, guides, and video walkthroughs. 
• It is a robust and stable game engine and you will rarely encounter any lags and glitches. 
• It is a cross-platform game engine that can be used to publish games on multiple platforms. 
• While it is primarily used for 2D game development, it can also be used to develop 3D games.

Disadvantages of GameMaker Studio 2

• The Master and Professional versions of the game engine are expensive and simply unaffordable for most developers. 
• The game engine is very embedded and can make it hard when transitioning to other game engines like Unity or Unreal. 
• While the engine supports 3D games, the existing 3D framework requires major improvements. 

10. Construct 3

Construct 3 is an HTML5 game engine that is primarily used for developing 2D games. It is one of the best gaming engines for creating games of various genres like puzzles, platformers, racing, shooters, RPGs, etc. The game engine also includes the Box2D physics engine for creating physics-based games. 

Advantages of Construct 3

• A popular game engine for creating RPGs, shooters, and puzzle games. 
• It offers various features that facilitate 2D game development. 
• Allows the coding of game interactions and can be used on any device with ease. 
• Features decent documentation and an active community.

Disadvantages of Construct 3

• The support team is slow to fix bugs and glitches when they arise. 
• A bad reputation in the industry for not being a serious engine. 

Final Words

In a nutshell, the above-listed web, android and iOS game development engine have their advantages and disadvantages for game developers around the globe. If you are looking forward to starting with game app development, the above-listed factors must be considered to make the right decisions as per your business specifications, objectives and requirements. No matter which game development engine you choose, it is important to note that you must hire dedicated developers for your game app development requirements and needs. 

BR Softech is one of the leading destinations where you can find hundreds of game developers with expertise in a variety of game development tools. Share your mobile game ideas with us and let us serve you better to bring that idea into reality.

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