A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games. It is a software development environment with settings and configurations that optimize and simplify the development of video games across a variety of programming languages. Game engines provide a range of features, including a rendering engine for 2D or 3D graphics, physics engine or collision detection, sound, scripting, animation, artificial intelligence, networking, streaming, memory management, threading, localization support, scene graph, and video support for cinematics.
Game engines are important because they simplify and speed up the game development process. Early video games were developed with their own rendering engines, each specifically designed for one game. Over time, game engines evolved from proprietary, in-house engines to commercially developed engines that are widely available today. Modern game engines are some of the most complex applications written, often featuring dozens of finely tuned systems interacting to ensure a precisely controlled user experience.
Game engines are not limited to video game consoles and computers. They can also be used for developing games for mobile devices, virtual reality, and augmented reality.
