After switching from Unity to Godot, the game Road to Vostok, a hardcore shooter with survival elements, looks quite impressive

The highly anticipated survival shooter "Road to Vostok" has unveiled a brand new demo. In many ways, it resembles its previous public demo, even dubbed "Public Demo 1 Version 3" by the developer, yet there is one significant difference: "Road to Vostok" now operates on the Godot game engine instead of Unity.

This in-development game transports players to a post-apocalyptic zone on the border between Finland and Russia, where the protagonist strives to traverse from one side to the other. Bringing the game's vision to life requires cutting-edge 3D graphics and a robust physics engine—critical aspects that determine the choice of the game engine.

"About three months ago, I... made the decision to switch to another game engine," shared the sole developer, Antti, in a video update. "The 'Road to Vostok' project is now entirely ported, taking a total of 615 hours of development time. You might ask if these 615 hours were worth it—I believe they were. This work provided me with a platform that mitigates the concerns I had, holds significant potential for the future, and, above all, is enjoyable to work with."

Antti, working solo on "Road to Vostok," is just one among many developers who've migrated from Unity to the open-source Godot game engine. He published an extensive piece detailing the complexity of this decision and the reasons for choosing Godot several months ago. A mass exodus from Unity began earlier this year when changes in Unity's pricing structure drew ire from nearly every game developer I've encountered or spoken with. An independent developer described it as a "remarkably deceitful move."

"Road to Vostok" garnered significant attention following a successful debut earlier this year, drawing in over 400,000 players for its initial public test. It's a game set in rundown post-apocalyptic environments, addressing concerns akin to those of doomsday preppers. Here, it's not only about having a well-tuned gun but also about the ability to carry and utilize the ammunition and equipment it requires.

"The survival genre lacks innovation, and there have been too many deceitful projects over the years, so it's time to bring back passion and innovation to this genre," Antti shared with PC Gamer earlier this year. You can discover more about Antti's vision for the game and why he has no intention of abandoning the project in that article.