It's hard to overcome the sunk cost fallacy but that's just the dilemma MartianCraft faced with their upcoming mobile title Republic Sniper.
Republic Sniper began life in another game engine but the team kept running into technical issues like memory-related crashes and weak query responses. Technical issues are one thing, but impeding teamwork is quite another. For MartianCraft, it was getting harder and harder to collaborate. Often, it felt like the tools were working against them rather than for them.
"Once we started looking at our options, it didn't take long for us to see that the best alternative--and possibly the only viable alternative--was the Unreal Engine," said Jeff LaMarche, Co-Founder of MartianCraft. "After a few weeks of experimenting and test-driving Unreal Engine 4, we were convinced we needed to make the switch."
It required a gut-level check, throwing out a ton of work and walking away from all the planning and implementation they'd already done. Many developers would back away from the challenge, but it's clear the MartianCraft team feels they made the right call.
After working with Unreal Engine 4, the workflow has improved dramatically. The engine is more stable and provides a smoother production pipeline. Most importantly, the team spends less time fighting the tools and more time making sure Republic Sniper is the game their fans expect.