Godot Overtakes Unity as the Most Popular Engine at GMTK Game Jam 2026

For the first time in the event's ten year history, Unity has lost its position as the most popular game engine at the GMTK Game Jam. According to data shared by the organizers of the GMTK Game Jam 2026, the open source engine Godot has officially taken the top spot.

Out of all the projects submitted to the annual event, 47% of the games were created using Godot, which equates to more than 4,900 games. In contrast, Unity fell to second place with a 34% share, representing approximately 3,600 games. Prior to this shift, Unity had maintained its position as the most frequently chosen engine for nine consecutive years, though its usage has steadily declined recently.

Godot's rise at the GMTK Game Jam has been steady over the last five years. In 2022, only 16% of submissions used Godot, which rose slightly to 19% in 2023. The engine saw a massive surge in 2024 to 37% of submissions, followed by 39% in 2025, before finally reaching its 47% peak in 2026.

Other engines trailing behind the top two included GameMaker, which accounted for 5% of submissions with 498 games, and Unreal Engine, which made up 3% with 319 games. Organizers noted that these shares are standard for both GameMaker and Unreal Engine at the event.

The trend extends beyond temporary game jams. Clay John, a board member of the Godot Foundation, previously noted that the engine's real world presence is expanding, with an increasing number of Godot-developed games being released on commercial platforms like Steam and itch.io.