aseo is right, of course, but even with game engines it depends on the game. Modern hardware is fast enough that you can get away with a lot. Minecraft used to

aseo is right, of course, but even with game engines it depends on the game. Modern hardware is fast enough that you can get away with a lot. Minecraft used to be written in Java, 2D games that aren't Dwarf Fortress can be written in practically anything. If you're an indie dev you usually don't want to strain the hardware with extremely complex models and textures and rendering pipelines, because you don't have the money to produce or source these models and textures.