The Most Advanced Game Engine to Develop an Indie Game

Level up with Unreal Engine: The same powerful technology used by AAA studios. An end-to-end ecosystem to create, ship, and operate games. Start your indie dream today ↓

Get started for free in 2 easy steps

Download the Epic Games launcher on your computer 🖥️
Open launcher and install Unreal Engine

Free to use until your game makes over $1 million
Self-publishing, cross-platform with free out-of-the-box services
Free access to community support & learning
Resources you need to switch from another engine

Unreal Engine 5 is used by these studios and many more:

Overview

Every size team deserves AAA-caliber tools

Image courtesy of Gwen Frey | Chump Squad

Develop in Unreal Engine

With Unreal Engine’s powerful feature sets and source code access, you’re free to tweak anything you need that makes your game uniquely yours. Mobile, 2D, stylized 3D—Unreal Engine's features are versatile enough to build any style, any genre of game you want.

Ship with Epic Online Services

Featuring crossplay, multiplayer, accounts, and more, our free out-of-the-box services help development teams manage their game operations without building their own infrastructure—and ensures teams are equipped to freely distribute across every store and platform if their game turns out to be a hit.

Image courtesy of Bluecurse Studios Inc.

Earn your fair share

You don’t pay us until your game makes over $1 million. You only pay 5% on gross revenue when your game reaches beyond $1 million. Our custom licensing options can include premium support if you’re prepared to pay up front.

Features

Features for indie game development

Slide 1 of 5

Built-in WYSIWYG tools and editors

UE5 comes with a range of out-of-the-box native tools and sub-editors that are deeply integrated with each other and with the wider editor. Highly visual and often node-based, these interfaces give small teams and solo devs the power to achieve showstopping games without programming.
Image courtesy of Shifting Tides
High-fidelity rendering that scales across platforms

Achieve stunning visual results with UE5’s extensive set of rendering features. Whether you’re going for photorealism or stylized looks, Unreal Engine’s rendering pipeline scales smoothly from mobile to console, so you get the best possible results on your target platforms.
Blueprint visual scripting and full C++ source

UE5 comes with the intuitive Blueprint visual scripting system which means you can program complex actions, automation, and behaviors without writing a single line of code. There’s also support for C++, with the full source code at your disposal.
An entire ecosystem of resources and creative tools

With Unreal Engine, you don’t just get powerful tools. You also have access to an entire ecosystem of resources and creative tools including Unreal Engine for Fortnite, MetaHuman, RealityScan, Quixel Megascans, Epic Developer Community, and Unreal Engine Marketplace.
Tutorials and documentation to help you switch from other engines

Have you started a project with another engine? Our documentation and learning series will take you through the foundations of Unreal Engine and show you how to get up to speed quickly with our tools.

Case Studies

Real UE developer stories

Indie Game of the Year

28 people and two cats: Inside the making of Stray using Unreal Engine

Unreal Engine’s Blueprints helped a team of two quickly prototype early ideas. Get the the inside scoop on the cat game that landed a publishing deal with a GIF.