Unity is no longer the leader — Godot has become the most popular engine at GMTK Game Jam 2026
Last week, the popular annual GMTK Game Jam took place. Traditionally, the organizers asked the participants which engines they used for creating their projects. It turned out that, for the first time, the most frequently chosen was Godot.
A total of 47% of games at GMTK Game Jam 2026 were made with Godot, which translates to a little more than 4.9 thousand games.
As noted by the organizers of GMTK Game Jam 2026, for the previous nine years straight, most developers used the Unity engine. However, its popularity has been steadily declining in recent years. As a result, Unity secured an honorable second place with a share of 34% (3.6 thousand games). Whether it can regain the top spot in the future remains to be seen.
The top four most popular engines at GMTK Game Jam 2026 also included GameMaker (5% or 498 games) and Unreal Engine (3% or 319 games). These numbers are standard for them.
For clarity, here's how the share of Godot games has grown at GMTK Game Jam over the past five years:
- 2022 — 16% of games were made with Godot;
- 2023 — 19% of games were made with Godot;
- 2024 — 37% of games were made with Godot;
- 2025 — 39% of games were made with Godot;
- 2026 — 47% of games were made with Godot.
Previously, Clay John, a board member of the Godot Foundation, noted that every year more and more Godot games are being released on Steam and itch.io. So, the engine's popularity is growing not only at game jams but beyond as well.