At GameMaker, we’ve been building the world’s premier 2D game engine for well over two decades. Dozens of versions of GameMaker have come and gone since we started in 1999, and two of our most popular were GameMaker Studio 1.4 and GameMaker Studio 2*.
GameMaker v1.4 is still popular within our community and with educators worldwide, but is it the best way to experience GameMaker? Are you getting all the tools you need to make the best games possible? Are you still teaching your students the most contemporary game design techniques?
Whether you’re developing or teaching with GameMaker, here’s a quick rundown of the two most popular versions of GameMaker.
*Please note: GameMaker Studio 2 is the most recent version of the GameMaker game engine - we just don’t call it ‘Studio 2’ anymore. If you’re here looking for a GameMaker Studio 2 download link, simply download the latest version of GameMaker!
This article includes:
- What Is GameMaker Studio 1.4?
- What Is GameMaker Studio 2?
- Developers: Should I Download GameMaker: Studio 1.4 vs. 2?
- Should Educators Download GameMaker: Studio 1.4 or 2?
What Is GameMaker Studio 1.4?
We originally released GameMaker: Studio 1.4 in 2014, and continued to release updates until 2018.Version 1.4 is a stable release that no longer receives updates from the GameMaker team. It was also included in two Humble Bundles in 2016 and 2017, which is part of the reason it remains as popular as it does today.
What Is GameMaker Studio 2?
Between 2016 and 2022, the GameMaker software was known as GameMaker Studio 2. In 2022, we dropped the ‘Studio 2’ from our name to make things a little easier. So, if you hear anyone talking about GameMaker Studio 2, they really mean the latest version of GameMaker.
The best and newest version of our game engine is only available on our download page. If you’ve already got GameMaker, you can download the latest updates through the software.
Developers: Should I Download GameMaker: Studio 1.4 vs. 2?
We recommend you download the latest version of GameMaker if you’re looking to make your own 2D game.
We’re constantly releasing updates and improvements to GameMaker that simplify game development and improve the IDE, but GameMaker: Studio 1.4 doesn’t receive these updates.
If you like the reliability of mastering one version of GameMaker without worrying about updates to the IDE, we introduced a Long Term Stable (LTS) build of GameMaker in August 2022, which you can find on our Downloads page.
GameMaker is completely free to download, with three additional tiers - Creator, Indie, and Enterprise - available to purchase for those looking to export their games to Windows, Mac, HTML5, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.
|
Free |
Creator |
Indie |
Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
GX.games |
Free tier |
Creator tier |
Indie tier |
|
Windows |
HTML5 |
Nintendo Switch |
|
macOS |
iOS |
PlayStation 4 |
|
Linux |
Android |
PlayStation 5 |
|
|
Amazon Fire |
Xbox One |
|
|
Android TV |
Xbox Series X|S |
|
|
tvOS |
|
Should Educators Download GameMaker: Studio 1.4 or 2?
If you’re teaching students how to develop their own games, we recommend you download the latest version of GameMaker.
We know a lot of teachers have stuck with Version 1.4 from back in the day, but your students aren’t getting the most out of GameMaker on the old version. We’ve added dozens of quality of life improvements, plugins, and tools that maintain industry standards since v1.4’s inception.
Teachers enjoy the stability of not having to adjust their lesson plans based on the latest GameMaker update. That’s why we offer a Long-Term Stable build of the latest version of GameMaker just for teachers like you!
This version of GameMaker comes with all the latest updates and industry-standard upgrades, but only receives critical updates and bug fixes. We support our LTS builds in two-year cycles to make sure you have the stability you need to teach your classes.
You can find the LTS build on our Download page.
Happy GameMaking!
