GameMaker
Game engine software
Game development software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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$99.99 one-time
Free Trial unavailable
Free version
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- Media and communications
- Accommodation and food services
- Education and training
What is GameMaker
GameMaker is a game engine and integrated development environment used to build primarily 2D games for desktop, mobile, and console platforms. It targets indie developers, educators, and small teams that want a streamlined workflow with both visual scripting and code-based development. The product combines an editor for scenes, sprites, animation, and UI with its own scripting language (GML) and export tooling for multiple targets.
Fast 2D prototyping workflow
GameMaker provides an integrated editor for sprites, rooms/scenes, object behaviors, and UI that supports rapid iteration. Its event-driven object model reduces boilerplate for common 2D gameplay patterns. Built-in debugging and profiling tools help developers test and tune gameplay without assembling a large external toolchain.
Visual and code options
The engine supports both Drag-and-Drop visual actions and GameMaker Language (GML) scripting, allowing teams to mix approaches. This helps onboarding for non-programmers while still enabling more complex logic through code. The dual approach can be useful in education and small teams where roles vary.
Broad export target coverage
GameMaker offers export options for multiple platforms, including desktop and mobile, with console exports available under separate arrangements. The build pipeline is designed to package projects per target rather than requiring developers to maintain separate projects. This can reduce porting overhead for 2D titles compared with building custom platform layers.
Primarily 2D focused engine
GameMaker is optimized for 2D development and does not aim to provide the same depth of 3D rendering, tooling, and pipelines as engines built around 3D-first workflows. Teams building 3D-heavy games may find the feature set and ecosystem less aligned with their needs. This can limit suitability for projects that require advanced 3D graphics, physics, or large-scale world tooling.
GML portability constraints
GML is specific to GameMaker, so code and patterns do not transfer directly to engines that use mainstream languages and frameworks. Teams that later migrate to another engine may need to rewrite significant gameplay logic. Hiring and collaboration can also be affected if a team prefers standardized language stacks.
Licensing and export gating
Access to certain export targets and features depends on the selected license tier and platform requirements. This can complicate budgeting for teams that plan multi-platform releases from the outset. Organizations may need to validate licensing terms early to avoid rework in build and release planning.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free (non-commercial use) | Non-commercial licence; includes GX.games export, Desktop (Windows, macOS, Ubuntu/Linux) exports, Web (HTML5) export, Mobile exports (Android, iOS, tvOS); no console exports; perpetual/free-to-use for non-commercial projects. |
| Professional | $99.99 one-time purchase (commercial licence) | One-time commercial licence to sell/distribute games on GX.games, Desktop, Web and Mobile platforms (GX.games, Windows, macOS, Ubuntu, HTML5, Android, iOS, tvOS). Regional pricing may apply. |
| Enterprise | $79.99 per month OR $799.99 per year (subscription) | Subscription that includes commercial licence plus console exports (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch etc.) and option for source-code access (enterprise features). |
Seller details
Opera Software AS
Oslo, Norway
1999
Private
https://gamemaker.io/
https://x.com/gamemakerengine
https://www.linkedin.com/company/yoyogames
