News
Report Reveals Expanding Use of Game Engines Beyond Gaming
- By John K. Waters
- August 16, 2024
Development and DevOps solutions provider Perforce Software has released its annual "State of Game Development" report, which this year highlights a growing trend: game development technology being utilized beyond its traditional gaming roots.
According to the report, more than 50% of the 576 global respondents to a survey are now using real-time game engines—such as Unreal, Unity, and Godot—for projects outside the gaming industry. These include applications in the automotive industry, manufacturing, education, architecture, and virtual production.
The survey compiled data from practitioners, senior management, and executives in gaming, media and entertainment, automotive, and manufacturing organizations in 64 countries to take a deeper look at the widespread adoption of game technology, the company said.
"The report’s findings on game engine use aligns with the unprecedented adoption of game technology we’ve seen in other industries,” said Brad Hart, CTO and VP of Product Management of Digital Creation at Perforce, in a statement. "I really credit the game developers. They have pioneered versatile workflows, around a set of foundational tools, that streamline collaboration and manage complexity at a global scale."
The report, conducted in partnership with IDE maker JetBrains, underscores the versatility of game development tools in addressing challenges across various industries, Hart said. With game developers historically at the forefront of innovation, their tools are now being adapted to support complex environments and facilitate collaboration across distributed teams, capabilities that are increasingly in demand outside gaming, according to the two companies.
"We see a huge opportunity in generative AI, especially in the game development segment following the recent breakthroughs of AI applications in both the development process and in-game mechanics," adds Vladislav Tankov, Team Lead of JetBrains' AI group.
Among the notable findings, more than 65% of respondents reported using AI tools in their work, with ChatGPT being the most popular choice at 47%. The top challenges identified by survey participants include securing funding (36%), improving collaboration (21%), and finding time for innovation (21%).
The biggest obstacle to effective collaboration, according to 38% of respondents, is the difficulty in moving large files, surpassing concerns about remote working. Additionally, a lack of talent (51%) and aggressive timelines (33%) were cited as significant barriers to innovation.
Hart emphasized the importance of game developers in pioneering workflows that streamline collaboration and manage complexity on a global scale. "The report’s findings on game engine use align with the unprecedented adoption of game technology we’ve seen in other industries," he said.
The report also sheds light on the evolving job market, with 98% of managers ranking the ‘ability to learn new skills’ as the most important trait when hiring new team members. Interestingly, access to senior leadership was valued more highly (90%) than the ability to work remotely (81%).
The full 2024 State of Game Development report is available for download, and Perforce and JetBrains are planning a live discussion of the findings on September 12.
About the Author
John K. Waters is the editor in chief of a number of Converge360.com sites, with a focus on high-end development, AI and future tech. He's been writing about cutting-edge technologies and culture of Silicon Valley for more than two decades, and he's written more than a dozen books. He also co-scripted the documentary film Silicon Valley: A 100 Year Renaissance, which aired on PBS. He can be reached at [email protected].