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Game Making Software

Game Development Software helps individual developers, gaming companies, and educational institutions create, distribute, and monetise games. These solutions often offer additional capabilities such as user behavior analytics, marketing, and social features. Game design software includes features such as 2D drawing, 3D games, animation, collaboration tools and IT asset management. Capterra also includes free game development software listings, providing each company with the best game making software option for their specific business. Capterra's listing also features game making software for UK businesses.

United Kingdom Show local products
Fast and powerful cross-platform .NET IDE, that also offers the ultimate game development toolset for Unity and Unreal Engine. Learn more about Rider
Rider is a powerful .NET IDE that also offers the ultimate game development toolset for Unity, Unreal Engine, and more. Based on the IntelliJ platform and ReSharper, Rider empowers you to deliver quality code faster than ever by providing tons of intelligent code-editing features for most languages used in .NET development: C#, F#, Razor/Blazor syntax, JavaScript, TypeScript, XAML, HTML, CSS, and SQL. It is cross-platform, so you get the same development experience on Windows, macOS and Linux. Learn more about Rider

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
Visual Studio is Microsoft's integrated development environment for building applications on Windows.
Visual Studio is an integrated development environment for .NET and C++ developers on Windows. It provides developer tools and services to make application development easy. The IDE offers intelligent code completion, diagnostics, source control integration, and cross-platform app development support. Visual Studio aims to boost productivity at every stage of software development with its fast coding experience. Learn more about Microsoft Visual Studio

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
Wrike is a project management software with prebuilt templates, Gantt charts, Kanban boards, automated approvals, proofing, and more.
Wrike is an award-winning project management software trusted by 20,000+ companies worldwide. Streamline your game development using product launch templates, Kanban boards, Gantt charts, time tracking, custom request forms with auto-assignment, performance reports, and shared workflows all in one place. Accelerate your game development with Wrike's 400+ integrations and visual proofing. Customize your workflows to see progress at every step. Increase your on-time delivery with Wrike. Learn more about Wrike

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
Cloud-based service that allows you to create anything from simple websites to complex applications for businesses of all sizes.
Google Cloud Platform is cloud-based service that allows you to create anything from simple websites to complex applications for businesses of all sizes in all industries. Google Cloud Platform offers a scalable data warehouse powered by cloud storage and machine learning, as well as relational databases for transactions, complex queries, and more. New customers get $300 in free credits during the first 90 days after exhausting free usage which is available across 20+ different products. Learn more about Google Cloud

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
Blender is a free and open source 3D creation software for modeling, animation, VFX, and more.
Blender is 3D creation software that allows users to create 3D models, animations, visual effects, interactive 3D applications, video games, and more. Key features include a Cycles render engine, sculpting tools, modeling tools, character animation tools like rigging and skinning, a node-based compositor, video editing, and Python scripting for custom tools and add-ons. Learn more about Blender

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
On-premise game engine that helps developers assemble assets, create games & experiences in 3D, manage crashes, and more.
Software solution for real-time game and content developers which is powered by tools and services to help create interactive content. With its all-in-one editor, the app is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. It supports both 2D and 3D content with a number of custom tools available. Learn more about Unity

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
Unreal Engine is a free 3D creation software for building real-time 3D projects including games, films, & architectural visualizations.
Unreal Engine is a real-time 3D creation software. It enables developers to build photorealistic visuals and immersive experiences. The software provides tools for 3D modeling, animation, visual effects, and cinematics. It allows creators to bring interactive 3D experiences to life. Unreal Engine comes with full source code access. It is free to download. A 5% royalty fee applies on titles earning over $1 million USD. The engine has been used across industries like gaming, film/TV, architecture, and simulation. Learn more about Unreal Engine

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
United Kingdom Local product
Game development software that runs in the browser and is used by schools, indie developers and game making companies globally.
Game development software that runs in the browser and is used by schools, indie developers and game making companies globally. Construct 3 is the worlds easiest, fastest and best ways to make 2D games that can be exported to mobile and desktop platforms. Over 100,000 users monthly make & sell thousands of games globally. Learn more about Construct 3

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
Zoho Sprints is an agile project management tool that helps Scrum teams to plan, track and always be ready for change.
Zoho Sprints is a free online agile project management tool for Scrum teams. Add user stories to your backlog, estimate and prioritize work items, stay on track with personalized scrum boards and swimlanes, get actionable insights from velocity, burn up and burn down charts, collaborate with your team on a social feed, and schedule your review and retrospective meetings from one place. Learn more about Zoho Sprints

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
A cross-platform game engine designed for everyone. Extensible, fast and easy to learn.
GDevelop is an open-source, cross-platform game engine designed for everyone. It's extensible, fast and easy to learn thanks to an intuitive approach to game development. Learn more about GDevelop

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
Technical computing system that provides tools for image processing, geometry, visualization, machine learning, data mining, and more.
Technical computing system that provides tools for image processing, geometry, visualization, machine learning, data mining, and more. Learn more about Wolfram Mathematica

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
A 3D digital asset management (DAM) platform for teams to store, secure, optimize, and share 3D models and scans across their
echo3D is a 3D digital asset management (DAM) platform for teams to store, secure, optimize, and share 3D models and scans across their organization and beyond. We help over 125,000 users take control over their 3D content - securely store and share 3D assets and digital twins across their organization, while allowing teams to manage their interactive content and to discover, process, and stream 3D assets and digital twins anywhere. Learn more about echo3D

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
Produce professional 3D models and renders for design visualization, game development, and animation with 3ds Max's robust design tools
Produce professional 3D models and renders for design visualization, game development, and animation with 3ds Max's robust design toolkit. Learn more about 3ds Max

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
United Kingdom Local product
Multi-platform game development system with drag & drop capabilities, built-in shader editing, user engagement and real-time analytics.
GameMaker Studio is a cross-platform game development platform designed to help game developers create games in a single code base and publish them to run natively across multiple platforms including Android, iOS, OS X, HTML5, Ubuntu, and Windows. The solution enables creators to use layers and tile brushes or animations to add visual effects across characters. Businesses can mix audio tracks to add sound effects and include motion effects for creating live players. Learn more about GameMaker: Studio

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
The Adobe AIR SDK from HARMAN lets developers build cross-platform desktop and mobile apps, including iOS on Windows, using its robust
Adobe AIR SDK is a software development kit that enables developers to build cross-platform desktop, mobile, and gaming apps. This SDK from HARMAN allows app deployment across desktop operating systems like Windows and macOS as well as iOS devices. With Adobe AIR SDK, developers can use Windows to build iPhone and iPad apps. Key features include animation creation with Adobe Animate and a framework for rapid cross-platform development across desktop and mobile. Learn more about Adobe AIR

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
Live streaming system for broadcasting and video production with high fidelity sound.
Game development solution designed to help content creators and online streamers add transitions to the preloaded scenes and create broadcasts. XSplit Broadcaster offers a drag-and-drop interface, which enables creators to add, edit, and upload multiple media files directly to YouTube. It provides a preview functionality, which allows professionals to edit the scenes before broadcasting them across multiple stream services. The platform also provides illustrations of live events to commentators. Learn more about XSplit Broadcaster

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
AI generation of 'game ready' 3D models, in real-time.
3D modeling has never been easier. Enter a text prompt or select a generator, tweak, and export. Learn more about Sloyd

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
3D game engine designed to build games and fan communities and offers VR preview mode, visual scripting tools, and Twitch integration.
With Amazon Lumberyard, game developers can create the highest-quality 3D games, connect their games to the vast compute and storage of the AWS Cloud, and engage fans on Twitch. With Lumberyard, you have access to a growing set of free AWS services that can be integrated with your game or simulation to connect and scale to millions of players with ease. AWS integrations let you quickly and efficiently build and scale serverless multiplayer games. Learn more about Amazon Lumberyard

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
Cloud-based application development solution that allows businesses to track and manage changes to source code, digital assets & more.
Cloud-based application development solution that allows businesses to track and manage changes to source code, digital assets & more. Learn more about Helix Core

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
Game development solution that helps businesses create 2D games, debug and modify projects as well as add animation effects.
Godot Engine is an open-source game development solution for creating 2D and 3D games across multiple platforms. Some features include node and scene systems for game design, support for languages including GDScript and C++, 2D rendering engine, and the ability to deploy across desktop, mobile, and web. Learn more about Godot Engine

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
On-premise and web-based game development tool that enables users to build 2D games, import graphics, assign behavior functions, etc.
On-premise and web-based game development tool that enables users to build 2D games, import graphics, assign behavior functions, etc. This no-code solution helps with programming concepts, game design and digital media creation. GameSalad allows distance learning : teachers can assign tutorials, track progress and it supports shared editing. Learn more about GameSalad Pro

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
Buildbox is a no-code drag and drop software that allows you to create amazing 2D and 3D games without coding from start to finish.
Buildbox is a drag and drop game engine that anyone can use to create professional looking games. There's no coding or programming skills required. All the tools you need to complete your game is inside the software. From adding multiple worlds, effects and animations to customizing the entire flow of your game, it can all be done in a matter of minutes. Our advanced settings allow you to quickly build out levels, edit individual worlds, and move from one section to the next with a simple click. Learn more about Buildbox

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
Engage users with Banuba SDK. Integrate several years’ worth of high-quality AR effects and filters in under a week.
Augmented Reality SDK with 3D face tracking to bring face filters, 3D lens, AR beauty, avatars and virtual try-on apps in iOS, Android, Windows & Unity. The biggest face filter library and Effect Constructor & Viewer tools to create custom filters. Learn more about Face AR SDK

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
Hansoft provides solutions for team collaboration and management in Agile and traditional development of video games
Companies around the world use Hansoft to ship both indie all the way to the most complex AAA games. Hansoft provides blistering fast project management software for team collaboration and management in Agile and traditional development of products and services. Native Windows, OS X and Linux application with both on-premise and hosted option available. Learn more about Helix Plan

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing
Web, mobile, and desktop game creation software with drag & drop interface, scene design, and actor editing tools. No coding required.
Stencyl is a game development solution designed to help businesses of all sizes create games using the drag-and-drop interface. The platform enables creators to publish games across various platforms including Android, Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Linux, and HTML5. It also includes a selection tool, zooming functionality, grid-snapping option, and flood fill feature, which enable designers to create tile-based backgrounds and actor's appearances on a unified interface. Learn more about Stencyl

Features

  • Virtual Reality
  • In-App Purchase
  • 3D Games
  • Player Management
  • 2D Drawing

Game Making Software Buyers Guide

Game Development Software enables businesses, freelancers, and academic institutions to build, distribute, and monetise games. These systems streamline the development process and reduce operational costs through automation and predefined gaming templates. Most game development software solutions include additional capabilities such as user behaviour analytics, marketing management, and social features.

What are the benefits of game development software?

The benefits of game development software include:

  • Reduced operational costs: Game development platforms help organisations quickly write game codes with the help of predefined templates to reduce project time and required resources. These templates reduce human coding errors and drive development costs down by using reusable code. This helps project leaders minimise project costs by streamlining involved processes.
  • Increased collaboration: Game development platforms allow coding teams to seamlessly collaborate and efficiently manage projects through functionalities such as task management, live chat, asset management, and more. These collaboration tools also let managers track the team's performance and ensure timely project completion.

What are the typical features of game development software?

  • Code-free development: Allows developers to create wizards and visual interfaces for game development without writing code.
  • Animation: Allows developers to create, customise, and add animations to a game.
  • Integrated development environment: Provides a graphical user interface for testing, debugging, and compiling the code.
  • Physics simulation: Implement laws of physics within a game.
  • Prototyping: Create, manage, and provide access to prototypes.

What considerations should be taken into account when purchasing game development software?

When acquiring game development software, some key factors should be taken into account:

  • Integration with third-party solutions: Integration is one of the most critical factors for businesses to evaluate when purchasing game development software. Since developers often need access to best-of-breed functionalities—such as asset management, advanced analytics, video editing, and content modelling—available as third-party integrations, it's important for businesses to select game development programs that work with their existing or desired tools.
  • Pricing considerations: The game development software market offers hundreds of solutions with varying pricing models (e.g. subscriptions, one-time licensing, and per user, per month). Pricing also varies based on software capabilities, inclusion of advanced features (e.g. virtual reality, 3D gaming, artificial intelligence), customer support, training, and database management. Buyers of game development programs should carefully determine what is included at which price points to calculate their total cost of ownership before making a purchase.

Capterra lists a wide array of game design software options, including free game development software options as well as free game making software. It also includes local listings of game design software for UK businesses.

A range of factors that affect game development software should be considered:

  • As games will get smarter with artificial intelligence (AI) technologies: Mainstream adoption of AI technology in the gaming industry will transform the market, resulting in smarter and more engaging products/experiences. With the help of AI-enhanced recommendation engines, developers will be able to suggest additional/new products to customers based on their past playing behaviours and purchases, increasing both customer retention rates and revenue. According to Capterra research, over the next three to five years almost all software applications—including game development platforms—will contain some level of AI functionality.
  • Virtual reality to revolutionise gaming: Successful use cases of virtual reality games have made waves in the gaming community; games like Pokémon Go have set a new standard by providing an immersive, augmented reality experience. In the coming years, we expect virtual reality technologies to have a greater impact on educational games by providing interactive learning exercises to achieve higher engagement levels. According to Capterra research, 33% of small businesses will adopt virtual reality technologies to train their employees in the coming years. Expect the gaming industry to increase its focus on these areas to capture this growing market of educational gamification.