Leadwerks Game Engine 5 on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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Leadwerks Game Engine 5 is a animation & modeling, game development and design & illustration game
developed and published by Leadwerks Software.
Released on January 06th 2014 is available in English only on Windows.
It has received 352 reviews of which 254 were positive and 98 were negative resulting in a rating of 6.8 out of 10. 😐
The game is currently priced at 48.99€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Leadwerks Game Engine 5 into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at Leadwerks Game Engine 5 through various videos and screenshots.
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System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 or 11
- Processor: 2.0 ghz dual core
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia GEForce 420 or AMD Radeon RX 5300M
- Storage: 4 GB available space
- VR Support: SteamVR
- Additional Notes: Intel graphics are not currently supported.
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
Instructions are excellent . I haven't seen any other 3d game making software that has so much information available at the editor level and readily able to access while you are working. Most 3d engines require a lot of time to find precise information. So yes this approach I like very much.
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I’ve been doing game development as an indie developer for a while and have used many different engines. Unfortunately, most tools out there suffer from feature creep and are bloated with systems aimed at medium or large teams. With Leadwerks, I can quickly prototype a game without worrying about features slowing down my workflow. I feel at home when opening the editor. My creativity just flows.
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Making a FPS player is just a few clicks with no coding super fast just do some reading on the website(all links are the software) and you can already make a world with boxes. Buttons are not everywhere so the software is easy to use you just need to to learn LUA/C
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Cons: - OpenGL in 2025?! bruh - In-game input lags and terrible performance, dropping with each newer version - this was already the case at the version 5.0 launch, when the RC version was faster by ~20%. GPUs like the 2060/3060 are bad idea. The engine is NOT low-hardware-friendly, despite the clearly understated system requirements - Cross-platform support: NO. Only promises of Linux and macOS ports in future (the latter didn't happen even during LE3x/4x). Proton launches with bugs (developer absolutely hates any compatibility layers and for some reason dreams of a native port, despite the LE 4.x port being complete garbage and abandoned by him personally back in 2017) - Multi-platform support: also NO, and not planned at all, not even ARM (which I consider a massive miscalculation given the rise of handheld consoles) - Broken Vega support, and on Intel UHD GPUs the editor doesn't work at all as far as I know - EXTREMELY heavy shaders. And they're hard to write, unlike in 4.6. Supposedly this will be fixed in 5.1 with the move to deferred rendering - Text documentation is incomplete in places and often outdated - C++ development is implemented pretty badly, but if you're a hardcore C++ programmer, that probably won't stop you. The real question is: what are you even doing here then? - No vertex animation (yet) and some basic features that stronger competitors already have. I strongly recommend the Leadwerks CEO implement vertex shaders externally, exactly like in LE 4.6, so if someone doesn't like his animation system, they can roll their own by overriding shaders in the project. In LE 4.6, vegetation “floated” instead of bending from the root, and it looked awful - Visual glitches from SSLR, water, and other heavy shader tech that's present here. Requires a lot of tinkering. Don't expect much help with such specific issues - For animators: Bugs with animations and importing them into meshes. There are still quite a lot of them - No real client-server networking code. Don't fall for the basic Valve p2p implementation, you're unlikely build a proper DM/TDM on it - Crashes when generating large amounts of .meta files for the editor (window thumbnails). These crashes have existed for over 3 years and are still not fixed. And the process is much slower than in LE 4.x - My favorite and VERY special point. The Leadwerks CEO, whatever his real name is, is a person who loves to confuse everyone, especially himself. Communicating through wildly inappropriate corporate formalism, he will argue against literally any suggestion or bug report as if you're proposing some utter bullsh* t, even when it's about basic functionality missing out of the box. Your attempt to help the project and be active will end with you being kicked from the Discord server, because you'll seem "too smart" and therefore dangerous to the business. CEO acting like recluse and paranoid, sees hate to him everywhere, and considers himself the smartest person in the room. The classic niche game- or engine dev archetype. Be careful! (1) - Severe lack of concentration from the developer, which causes internal plans to constantly change radically and everything goes to hell, including deadlines. For users this often means dropped support for a product they already bought and the need to buy a “new” one again. Be careful! (2) - Extremely murky stuff with Steam App ID switching back and forth, cringe marketing with promises of 10x performance over Unity, and other SPIKING TIME cringe involving Kickstarter (hello, Ultra App Kit). Full releases are very rough, there is still no real stable version, and early access ended only formally. Be careful! (3) - The Lua template is practically empty and disappointing, and there's no built-in UI editor - it's so much fun to move widgets pixel by pixel in scripts or come up with tricky formulas to make something work! (NO) If you want to do something more or less serious, be prepared to spend two or more years writing your tech base instead of actually developing your game! It also means, be prepared to repurpose old assets from the LE3/4 era, searching tech forums, read programming textbooks and articles, constantly consult with chatbots - basically, engage in SELF-LEARNING, which is not bad in itself, but the lack of basic functionality, again, is hardly a motivating factor in this case, and closed source code won't help you add something of your own to the engine or editor (the plugin system is still quite limited and does not cover all needs), even if you have the skills. In short, you'll be severely limited by the existing bare minimum, and therefore highly dependent on the CEO's updates. But you must remember: the CEO doesn't want to spoil you with unnecessary frills! He assumes you already have enough, so he doesn't want to add anything radically new, especially something he doesn't know how to implement quickly and easily. Be careful! (4) Pros: + OpenGL in 2025! Wow! + Good price + Finally x64 and multithreading (weakly implemented, but at least it exists) + Lua! + Convenient prototyping UI and support for built-in geometric brushes + Retro vibes: Y2K-style UI ideas (Valve Hammer, maybe little touch of CryEngine 3) filtered through mid-2010s minimalism + Genuinely easy to make beginner-level games with community help. Newbies get video tutorials and even developer tech support + Built-in IDE Despite the CEO's antics, I still believe in the product. I do care about its fate - I'm still developing commercial games on LE. However, if within the next year nothing changes in 5.1/5.2, if many promised features don't appear, and if there is no serious work on fixing both technical and behavioral issues on the developer's side, I will change this review to negative and will be considering a complete and final abandonment of its use by 2028. I haven't been part of its community for many months and don't plan to return. Even now, I generally do NOT recommend this engine for serious commercial development. It's too niche and too specific. It's suitable for warm Y2K era nostalgia and for gaining experience. If the indie scene is more important to you than big commercial plans, or if you're a complete beginner in gamedev and you just want to do some prototype quickly and well, or if you come from the Source / UT2004, etc. modding scene - this is actually a good place to gain REAL experience, and you will get a lot of it within a year or two, guaranteed (try not to get burnt out in the process). But if you're starting from zero and want to build a career in the industry, 99% you have absolutely nothing to do here, just learn Unity/UE.
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The editor... I started using Leadwerks software way back with their stand-alone level creation software, 3D World Studio. From the start, Josh has had a knack for keeping things intuitive, and remembering who his target users are. Using 3DWS was a lot of fun to use back in the day, and LW5 has been no different. Only things are even cleaner and more intuitive with LW5, and there's a lot more to work with. Assets are added easily with a drag and drop. Textures can be converted to materials with a right-click. A number of model formats are also converted to LW5's 'MDL' format with a couple clicks. It's all really intuitive. For programming... I'm not a programmer by any stretch of the imagination, but for those who are, there's a built-in code editor that seems to be pretty full-featured. Better to look at others reviews and/or LW5's videos on YouTube. There's also a flow-chart editor for scripting, for those who like that approach. For features... There's a lot. I recommend checking out the videos on their official YT channel. My only two cents is that road and river creators would be pretty nice. Oh yeah.. and Linux support! -cough- (it's on the road map :) ) Developer/Community involvement... Developer involvement and support are important to me. I assume it is for others, too. So, it's worth noting that Josh is very involved and present in the community. He's active on Discord and in the forums, providing support, answering questions and providing feedback/suggestions/solutions as applicable. In my experience, he's also a friendly, approachable guy. There's a weekly "get-together" every Saturday where he discusses current updates, future plans, showcases new or upcoming features, features/discusses games, and holds contests for the community. Each is uploaded to YT to watch later. I put a decent amount of time into learning and creating small "test projects" while I was still on Windows. I've since moved to Linux, and am deep in early pre-production for my own game, which will use LW5 (once there's Linux support of course! -cough-). I'm confident this is the right engine for it. Anyway, this is getting long. I'll end by saying, if you're looking to make games, know or are learning Lua or C++, and want a solid, intuitive engine to work with, for $50, with no royalties on anything you make with it, LW5 is a very solid choice.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Leadwerks Game Engine 5 is currently priced at 48.99€ on Steam.
Leadwerks Game Engine 5 is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 48.99€ on Steam.
Leadwerks Game Engine 5 received 254 positive votes out of a total of 352 achieving a rating of 6.84.
😐
Leadwerks Game Engine 5 was developed and published by Leadwerks Software.
Leadwerks Game Engine 5 is playable and fully supported on Windows.
Leadwerks Game Engine 5 is not playable on MacOS.
Leadwerks Game Engine 5 is not playable on Linux.
Leadwerks Game Engine 5 is a single-player game.
There is a DLC available for Leadwerks Game Engine 5. Explore additional content available for Leadwerks Game Engine 5 on Steam.
Leadwerks Game Engine 5 does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
Leadwerks Game Engine 5 does not support Steam Remote Play.
Leadwerks Game Engine 5 does not currently support Steam Family Sharing.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Leadwerks Game Engine 5.
Data sources
The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.
Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 23 January 2026 07:22 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 25 January 2026 19:54 |
| Steam price | 28 January 2026 20:44 |
| Steam reviews | 27 January 2026 13:51 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Leadwerks Game Engine 5, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Leadwerks Game Engine 5
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Leadwerks Game Engine 5 concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Leadwerks Game Engine 5 compatibility
Game modes
Online players
5
Developer
Leadwerks Software
Publisher
Leadwerks Software
Release
06 Jan 2014
VR
VR Supported
Platforms