In recent years, the share of games on proprietary engines in Steam has significantly decreased, according to data from the analytics service VG Insights. In 2012, they were used in 71% of the new releases on the platform, but by 2024, this figure had dropped to just 13%.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Analysts suggest this shift is partly due to more major gaming companies abandoning their own engines in favor of the Unreal Engine. For example, CD PROJEKT and Respawn Entertainment have made such transitions. Additionally, indie teams find it easier to work with engines already available on the market.
Share of new games on various engines in Steam from 2012-2024
Other findings from the VG Insights report:
- In 2024, Unity was the most popular engine on Steam, used for 51% of the new releases last year. Unreal Engine was second with 28% of new releases. Godot (5%), GameMaker (4%), and the visual novel engine Ren’Py (2%) also made it to the top.
The most popular engines in Steam among games released on the platform in 2024
- The share of Unreal Engine is gradually increasing. For instance, in 2012, it was the foundation for 17% of releases, and by 2021, it accounted for 23% of releases.
- Among smaller engines, the popularity of Godot is actively growing. In 2024, 144% more new Godot games were released on Steam compared to 2020.
- Nevertheless, games on proprietary engines achieved the best sales on Steam in 2024, accounting for 41% of all copies sold last year. However, analysts noted this is the first time their sales share dropped below 50%.
- The sales share of games on Unreal Engine in 2024 was 31%, compared to 19% in 2023. The sales share of games on Unity decreased from 27% in 2023 to 26% in 2024.
Sales share of new games on various engines in Steam from 2014-2024
- Analysts also delved into game sales across different genres in 2024. For example, they discovered that Unity games accounted for 52% of city-builder sales and 43% of turn-based project sales. Unreal Engine games stood out in soulslike (67% of sales), open-world crafting survival (58%), and action RPG (54%) genres. Godot games succeeded in the roguelike genre (21%), while games on proprietary engines performed best in the JRPG genre (66% of sales).
Sales share of new games in various genres on different engines in Steam in 2024
*In their sales statistics, analysts included not only 2024 releases but all games released on Steam that sold at least a thousand copies.