From Unity to Unreal

In the game development industry, choosing the right game engine can define the success or failure of a project. With the controversy surrounding Unity's Runtime Fee, many studios opted to abandon the platform. However, in our case, the switch to Unreal Engine was not driven by that factor but rather by deeper issues related to scalability, stability, and compatibility as our game grew. Below, we explain the key reasons behind our transition.

1. Scalability and Robustness

When our project was small, Unity worked well. However, as the scope and graphical quality increased, Unity proved to be less robust and stable for handling a large-scale project. One of the main issues was memory management for textures and loading, which caused slowdowns, optimization failures, and performance problems. With each iteration, it became clear that the engine was not prepared to support the technical requirements of the game we wanted to develop.

2. Issues with Version Control

Teamwork in a large-scale project requires a reliable version control solution. None of Unity’s built-in options worked properly. We tried Unity Collaborate, Plastic SCM, and Git with LFS, but all of them caused severe issues, from project corruption to data loss. In large projects where multiple developers work simultaneously, this became an unacceptable obstacle.

3. Inconsistency and Breakage with Engine Changes

Another critical point was the need to change internal systems within the engine. One particular case was the transition from the classic input system to Unity’s new Input System, which required a complete reimplementation and caused numerous compatibility issues with already developed systems. These constant changes in the engine’s technology added extra workload that delayed development instead of accelerating it.

4. Challenges in Staying Up-to-Date

To publish a game on consoles, it is necessary to keep the engine updated to its latest versions. However, every Unity update broke fundamental aspects of the project in unpredictable ways. Each migration to a new version resulted in weeks of refactoring and fixes, which is unsustainable for a team in active development.

The Decision to Move to Unreal Engine

After completing our most recent game, The Inheritance of Crimson Manor, developed in Unity, we evaluated our options and decided to use Unreal Engine for our new project, Memento Machinam. While switching engines is not a trivial decision, in our case, it has been worth it. Unreal offers a more stable environment, better tools for large-scale projects, reliable version control with Perforce, and a more solid architecture for managing visual quality and performance.

This change has allowed us to focus on developing our game without the constant technical interruptions we experienced in Unity. In future posts, we will share more details about the migration process and the improvements we have experienced.

If you're a developer who has gone through a similar situation, we’d love to hear your experience! Share your thoughts in the comments.