As an indie or small team developer you may be wondering if the game engine you are pouring your effort and money in to will deliver you a stunning game. Let's take a look at a few of the game engines you need to be looking at in 2016.
5) SpriteKit and SceneKit
While Apple have been moving forward in leaps and bounds in previous years with SpriteKit and SceneKit both engines are held back by being limited to Apple platforms.
That said, the visual editors have been progressing to a point where they could well be on par with Unity this year which is quite exciting. I'm eager to see what WWDC has in store.
4) Fabric Engine
The rise of VR is upon us, as such engines like Fabric that are especially tuned to making amazing VR experiences will definitely be on the watch list.
The licensing costs may be enough to keep smaller teams away from this engine.
3) Unreal Engine 4
Unreal has been moving closer and closer to the indie spotlight and for good reason, it is a fantastic engine with a lot of potential.
The recent focus on being able to make amazing VR experiences will be key for it's success in 2016 as VR popularity is expected to skyrocket.
2) Unity
Unity is by far the most progressive tool in this space going from very humble beginnings to being the fiercest competitor. While not the cheapest option it has so much potential for allowing small and indie teams make massive blockbuster games.
Each year it just keeps getting better and better, I'm looking forward to seeing what is brought on board this year.
1) Amazon Lumberyard
There are a lot of reasons to be excited about this very new game engine. Boasting AAA game building capabilities with very little outlay in regards to licensing it is likely to become strong competition in the near future.
While 2016 may not be the year to switch to Lumberyard, it is definitely the year to watch closely and see if Amazon can deliver on expectations.