Plugin vs Game Feature in Unreal: what’s the difference?
I used to be confused about the difference between the two. Both allow modular code, but they serve different purposes.
Plugins:
- Designed to be reusable across multiple projects so it should not depend on game-specific code
- The game can call plugin code.
Game Features:
- Built for a specific game so can reference game code
- Can be activated or deactivated at runtime, because of that, the main game code should not depend on Game Feature code. (Unreal might allow you to do it, but it might randomly break at some point)
In short:
Plugins = reusable modules across projects
Game Features = optional project-specific modules
Edit — Feature isolation and DLC
Ari Arnbjörnsson explained that Game Feature Plugins can help keep the base game independent of optional features. This supports developing features behind activation controls and testing whether the game still works with a feature disabled.
For DLC intended to work with an unchanged game executable, he distinguished asset and Blueprint content from new C++ code that would require changes to the executable. This is an architectural use case, rather than a claim that every Game Feature Plugin is automatically a standalone DLC package.