Unreal Engine statistics 2026: Market share, users & revenue
Unreal Engine captured 31% of Steam game sales revenue — up from 19%. UE5 powers 72% of all Unreal projects.
Unreal Engine is the game development industry’s most commercially dominant engine by revenue. In 2024 it captured 31% of all Steam game sales revenue — up from 19% in 2023, a 12-percentage-point gain in a single year that makes it the fastest-growing engine by commercial output in VGI’s dataset. 42% of developers now name Unreal as their primary engine (GDC 2026) — the first time Unreal has led this survey ahead of Unity. UE5 made up 72% of all Unreal projects in 2024. 850,000+ monthly active users were reported in late 2024 by Epic, on track for 1 million. The engine is free below $1M revenue and charges a 5% royalty above that threshold. For broader market context, see our video game industry statistics. Here are the verified numbers.
Unreal Engine key statistics
- 31% — Unreal Engine’s share of Steam game sales revenue in 2024 (up from 19% in 2023) (2025).
- 28% — Unreal Engine’s share of Steam game releases in 2024 (VGI Big Game Engine Report 2025).
- 42% — developers naming Unreal Engine as their primary engine (GDC 2026 State of the Game Industry — first time Unreal leads).
- 72% — of all Unreal Engine projects using UE5 in 2024 (VGI Big Game Engine Report 2025).
- 850,000+ monthly active users — Unreal Engine (late 2024).
- 4,826 — verified companies globally using Unreal Engine as of 2025.
- 5% — royalty rate on gross revenue above $1 million.
- 3.5% — reduced royalty for games launching simultaneously on the Epic Games Store (“Launch Everywhere with Epic” program, effective January 1, 2025).
- $0 — cost below $1M lifetime gross revenue.
- Forecast: VGI projects Unreal Engine will reach 40% of annual Steam game sales by 2030.
Market share
Unreal Engine captured 31% of Steam game sales revenue in 2024 — up from 19% in 2023
(Source: VGI Big Game Engine Report 2025 via Sensor Tower; Icon-Era citing VGI)
This is the clearest measure of Unreal’s commercial momentum — not game count, but actual units sold:
| Year | UE Share of Steam Units Sold | Custom Engine Share |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 15% | 59% |
| 2021 | 17% | 55% |
| 2022 | 19% | 53% |
| 2023 | 19% | 52% |
| 2024 | 31% | 42% |
| 2030 (est.) | 40% | 27% |
The 2024 jump from 19% to 31% was driven by several massive UE5 titles: Black Myth: Wukong ($1B+ revenue on Steam), Palworld ($400M+), Satisfactory (full release), and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. These individually distort the market — but they represent UE5’s ability to power commercially exceptional games.
Custom engines crossed below 50% for the first time in 2024 — a historical inflection point. Studios that have built internal engines for decades are increasingly adopting UE5 for new projects.
Survey vs. shipping data gap (GDC 2026 vs. VGI Steam data):
- GDC survey: 42% Unreal (primary engine preference among developers).
- VGI Steam releases: 28% of new games use Unreal.
- Both are true: Unreal dominates where money is (AAA/AA studios), while Unity ships more games by count.
Unreal Engine by game size
Unreal dominates large games; Unity dominates small games
(Source: VGI Big Game Engine Report 2025 — game size breakdown by units sold in 2024)
| Game Size | Unreal Engine Share | Unity Share | Custom/Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tiny (under 1K units) | 23% | 50% | 27% |
| Small (1K–100K units) | 27% | 48% | 25% |
| Medium (100K–1M units) | 32% | 35% | 34% |
| Large (1M+ units) | 31% | 22% | 47% |
Unreal’s share grows with game size. Among games selling over 1 million units, Unreal matches Unity by share and custom engines still dominate — reflecting the handful of mega-franchises with proprietary technology (GTA, FIFA, etc.).
UE5 adoption
UE5 made up 72% of all Unreal projects in 2024 — maturing from 22% in 2022
(Source: VGI Big Game Engine Report 2025 — UE version breakdown)
UE5 version adoption on Steam:
| Year | UE4 Share | UE5 Share |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 78% | 22% |
| 2023 | 54% | 45% (approx.) |
| 2024 | 28% | 72% |
UE5 launched April 5, 2022. In under three years it became the dominant Unreal version — a faster transition than the UE3→UE4 shift. UE4 projects that shipped in 2024 were mostly titles in extended development that couldn’t migrate.
Major UE5 titles (2024–2026):
| Game | Year | Revenue/Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Black Myth: Wukong | 2024 | $1B+ Steam revenue |
| Palworld | 2024 | $400M+ revenue |
| Satisfactory (1.0) | 2024 | Major launch |
| S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 | 2024 | 2.9M units first year |
| Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II | 2024 | Xbox/PC flagship |
| Silent Hill 2 (remake) | 2024 | 5M+ copies |
| Tekken 8 | 2024 | UE5 fighting showcase |
| Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero | 2024 | Top 5 US chart |
| Oblivion Remastered | 2025 | Best-selling 2025 remaster |
| Split Fiction | 2025 | Co-op standout |
| Borderlands 4 | 2025 | Top 3 US chart |
Upcoming UE5 titles (confirmed):
- The Witcher 4 (CD Projekt Red)
- Gears 6 (The Coalition)
- State of Decay 3 (Undead Labs)
- Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra
- Mafia: The Old Country
Unreal Engine by genre
Unreal dominates action RPGs (54% share) and FPS games (67% share)
(Source: VGI Big Game Engine Report 2025 — genre breakdown by units sold in 2024)
| Genre | Unreal Engine Share (units sold) |
|---|---|
| FPS | 67% |
| Action RPG | 54% |
| Souls-like | 66% |
| JRPG | 21% |
| Platformer | 11% |
| Roguelike | 8% |
| City Builder | 42% |
| Open World Survival Craft | 42% |
Unreal’s genre dominance correlates with visual fidelity requirements and large team sizes. FPS and action RPG games — where lighting, physics, and cinematic quality matter most — are overwhelmingly UE-built. Genres where design speed and 2D predominate (roguelikes, platformers) favor Unity and smaller engines.
Monthly active users and developer adoption
850,000+ monthly active users in late 2024 — on track for 1 million
(Source: Reddit r/unrealengine citing Epic official announcement; Epic Unreal Engine Marketplace data)
- 850,000+ monthly active users reported by Epic in late 2024.
- Epic stated they were “on track to reach one million by early next year” (2025).
- 4,826 verified companies globally used Unreal Engine as of 2025 (Icon-Era).
- Studios switching to UE5 confirmed by VGI include: Crystal Dynamics, CD Projekt Red, 2K Games, Respawn Entertainment, Square Enix, Halo Studios, Eidos Montréal, Obsidian Entertainment.
Why studios switch from custom engines to UE5 (VGI analysis):
- Reducing per-studio engine maintenance costs.
- Access to Nanite (virtualized geometry) and Lumen (global illumination) without building equivalent tech.
- Larger talent pool — more developers know Unreal than any proprietary engine.
- Epic’s aggressive Marketplace, MetaHuman, and Fab ecosystem.
- EGS royalty incentive (3.5% vs. 5%).
Why studios stay on custom engines:
- Game-specific optimisations impossible in a general engine.
- Existing codebases too large to migrate.
- Proprietary tech as competitive advantage (Frostbite, RAGE, Creation Engine).
Licensing and pricing
Free below $1M — 5% royalty above — 3.5% for EGS simultaneous launches
(Source: Epic official license page, unrealengine.com/license; CG Channel; Epic Unreal Fest Seattle 2024 announcement)
For game developers:
| Revenue tier | Cost |
|---|---|
| Under $1M lifetime gross | Free — full engine access |
| Over $1M lifetime gross | 5% royalty on revenue above $1M |
| Launch Everywhere with Epic (EGS simultaneous) | 3.5% royalty (effective January 1, 2025) |
| Epic Games Store sales | 0% royalty (royalty-free on EGS sales) |
For non-game commercial users (film, VFX, arch-viz, automotive):
- Revenue under $1M/year: free.
- Revenue over $1M/year: $1,850/seat/year subscription.
The royalty model in practice:
- A game earning $100M in gross revenue pays Epic approximately $4.95M (5% of $99M above the first $1M).
- A game earning $100M on EGS simultaneously pays 3.5% = ~$3.465M to Epic.
- Epic’s 12% EGS store cut applies separately from the royalty structure.
January 2025 change: Epic introduced the “Launch Everywhere with Epic” program (announced Unreal Fest Seattle, October 2024). Games launching simultaneously on EGS with “parity” (same features, content, localizations) qualify for the 3.5% rate. This is a meaningful incentive — on a $100M game, the difference is ~$1.5M.
The game engines market
Game engine market projected to reach $13.8 billion by 2034
(Source: Market.us; ResearchAndMarkets via Icon-Era)
- Global game engines market size in 2024: ~$3.2 billion (Market.us).
- Projected to reach $13.8 billion by 2034 at 15.9% CAGR (Market.us).
- ResearchAndMarkets projects the market at $8.35 billion by 2030 at 18.4% CAGR.
- VGI forecasts Unreal Engine reaching 40% of Steam game sales by 2030 (from 31% in 2024).
Beyond games: Unreal Engine is increasingly used in:
- Film/TV virtual production (Disney’s The Mandalorian set the template in 2019).
- Automotive design and simulation.
- Architecture visualisation.
- Live events and concerts.
- Military simulation (US Army awarded Epic a contract in 2019).
Historical milestones
- 1998 — Unreal Engine 1 launches with Unreal (Epic MegaGames).
- 2002 — UE2 launches; Gears of War series makes it a household name.
- 2006 — UE3 launches; becomes the standard for Xbox 360/PS3 era.
- 2014 — UE4 launches; free with 5% royalty model introduced.
- 2015 — Epic makes UE4 free to download — landmark industry decision.
- April 2022 — UE5 launches; Nanite and Lumen showcase.
- 2023 units sold — UE revenue share of Steam : 19%.
- 2024 — UE5 = 72% of all Unreal projects; UE Steam revenue share: 31% (record).
- Late 2024 — 850,000+ MAU — Epic announces on track for 1 million.
- January 2025 — 3.5% royalty rate for “Launch Everywhere with Epic” EGS simultaneous launches.
- 2026 — GDC survey: 42% of developers name Unreal primary engine — first time leading.
Sources
- “The Big Game Engine Report of 2025”. Video Game Insights / Sensor Tower, https://app.sensortower.com/vgi/assets/reports/The_Big_Game_Engines_Report_of_2025.pdf
- “Epic Games Statistics 2026: Unreal Engine Market Share”. Icon-Era citing VGI, https://icon-era.com/statistics/epic-games/
- “GDC 2026 State of the Game Industry”. Game Developers Conference, https://gdconf.com/article/gdc-2026-state-of-the-game-industry-reveals-impact-of-layoffs-generative-ai-and-more/
- “Unreal Engine licensing options”. Epic Games official, unrealengine.com, https://www.unrealengine.com/license
- “Epic Games to cut royalty rate on Unreal Engine games”. CG Channel, October 2024, https://www.cgchannel.com/2024/10/epic-games-to-cut-royalty-rate-on-unreal-engine-games/
- “Unreal Engine now has 850,000+ Monthly Active Users”. Reddit r/unrealengine citing Epic, https://www.reddit.com/r/unrealengine/comments/1gdbual/unreal_engine_now_has_850_000_monthly_active_users/
- “Epic Games Store 2024 Year in Review”. Epic Games official, store.epicgames.com, https://store.epicgames.com/news/epic-games-store-2024-year-in-review
- “How’s PC game engine usage changing?” GameDiscover.co, https://newsletter.gamediscover.co/p/hows-pc-game-engine-usage-changing
- “Unreal Engine vs Unity vs Godot: Free, 5%, or $2,310 [2026]”. Shattered.io citing GDC 2026, https://shattered.io/unreal-engine-vs-unity-vs-godot/