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A Comparative Analysis of Energy Consumption Between The Widespread Unreal and Unity Video Game Engines

Carlos Pérez, Javier Verón, Francisca Pérez, M Ángeles Moraga, Coral Calero, Carlos Cetina

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the energy impact of two leading game engines, Unity and Unreal, by isolating three representative tasks: physics, static mesh rendering, and animated dynamic mesh rendering. Using a GSMP/FEETINGS-based measurement protocol with baseline subtraction and 30 repetitions per run, the study reveals engine-dependent energy differences: Unity is more efficient in Physics and Static Mesh, while Unreal is more efficient for Dynamic Mesh rendering. The authors estimate a potential global energy saving of about 51–76 TWh per year (roughly 13 million European households) if engine choices were optimized in practice, and they advocate for energy-aware engine development and future cross-platform analyses. The work highlights practical implications for the video game industry and points to a broader research agenda on green game engines and energy-efficient software ecosystems.

Abstract

The total energy cost of computing activities is steadily increasing and projections indicate that it will be one of the dominant global energy consumers in the coming decades. However, perhaps due to its relative youth, the video game sector has not yet developed the same level of environmental awareness as other computing technologies despite the estimated three billion regular video game players in the world. This work evaluates the energy consumption of the most widely used industry-scale video game engines: Unity and Unreal Engine. Specifically, our work uses three scenarios representing relevant aspects of video games (Physics, Statics Meshes, and Dynamic Meshes) to compare the energy consumption of the engines. The aim is to determine the influence of using each of the two engines on energy consumption. Our research has confirmed significant differences in the energy consumption of video game engines: 351% in Physics in favor of Unity, 17% in Statics Meshes in favor of Unity, and 26% in Dynamic Meshes in favor of Unreal Engine. These results represent an opportunity for worldwide potential savings of at least 51 TWh per year, equivalent to the annual consumption of nearly 13 million European households, that might encourage a new branch of research on energy-efficient video game engines.

A Comparative Analysis of Energy Consumption Between The Widespread Unreal and Unity Video Game Engines

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the energy impact of two leading game engines, Unity and Unreal, by isolating three representative tasks: physics, static mesh rendering, and animated dynamic mesh rendering. Using a GSMP/FEETINGS-based measurement protocol with baseline subtraction and 30 repetitions per run, the study reveals engine-dependent energy differences: Unity is more efficient in Physics and Static Mesh, while Unreal is more efficient for Dynamic Mesh rendering. The authors estimate a potential global energy saving of about 51–76 TWh per year (roughly 13 million European households) if engine choices were optimized in practice, and they advocate for energy-aware engine development and future cross-platform analyses. The work highlights practical implications for the video game industry and points to a broader research agenda on green game engines and energy-efficient software ecosystems.

Abstract

The total energy cost of computing activities is steadily increasing and projections indicate that it will be one of the dominant global energy consumers in the coming decades. However, perhaps due to its relative youth, the video game sector has not yet developed the same level of environmental awareness as other computing technologies despite the estimated three billion regular video game players in the world. This work evaluates the energy consumption of the most widely used industry-scale video game engines: Unity and Unreal Engine. Specifically, our work uses three scenarios representing relevant aspects of video games (Physics, Statics Meshes, and Dynamic Meshes) to compare the energy consumption of the engines. The aim is to determine the influence of using each of the two engines on energy consumption. Our research has confirmed significant differences in the energy consumption of video game engines: 351% in Physics in favor of Unity, 17% in Statics Meshes in favor of Unity, and 26% in Dynamic Meshes in favor of Unreal Engine. These results represent an opportunity for worldwide potential savings of at least 51 TWh per year, equivalent to the annual consumption of nearly 13 million European households, that might encourage a new branch of research on energy-efficient video game engines.
Paper Structure (19 sections, 11 figures, 10 tables)

This paper contains 19 sections, 11 figures, 10 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. A brief overview on video game engines
  3. Measuring the energy consumption of software
  4. Experiment description
  5. Experimental procedure
  6. Phases of the procedure
  7. Phase I. Scope Definition
  8. Phase II. Measurement Environment Settings
  9. Phase III. Measurement Environment Preparation
  10. Phase IV. Perform the Measurements
  11. Phase V. Test Case Data Analysis
  12. Phase VI. Software Entity Data Analysis
  13. Answering the Research Questions
  14. Answering RQ1 - Physics
  15. Answering RQ2 - Static Mesh rendering
  16. ...and 4 more sections

Figures (11)

  • Figure 1: Indie and AAA games made in Unity and Unreal Engine: A Short Hike (indie, Unity), RiME (indie, Unreal Engine), Escape from Tarkov (AAA, Unity), and The Calisto Protocol (AAA, Unreal Engine).
  • Figure 2: The three scenarios implementing Physics, Static Mesh rendering, and Dynamic Mesh rendering.
  • Figure 3: Process for evaluating the energy efficiency of software
  • Figure 4: Plot of the power measurements of one scenario as collected by the EET.
  • Figure 5: Graphic card power required for the three scenarios
  • ...and 6 more figures