TY - GEN
T1 - A Mapping Study of the Entity Component System Pattern
AU - Voisard, Laurent
AU - De Freitas Serra, Henrique
AU - Politowski, Cristiano
AU - Petrillo, Fabio
AU - Géhéneuc, Yann Gael
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 IEEE.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - Entity Component System (ECS) is an emerging software engineering pattern for implementing real-time applications. ECS has been primarily used in the video game industry, but its applications and implications have not been thoroughly studied in academia. This lack of academic study makes it difficult to assess ECS with the usual software engineering criteria and compare it to other architectures. In this paper, we conducted a systematic mapping study to identify ECS publication trends, ECS research focus, and the implications of developing with ECS. We performed searches in three databases, resulting in 82 total papers, from which we obtained 25 relevant papers. We synthesized the obtained papers to produce an overview of the state-of-the-art for ECS. This mapping study shows the main publication trends, and research focus, and shows that the literature has identified more benefits for ECS than downsides, potentially indicating a positive bias due to the novelty of the topic. This mapping study also serves as a foundation for future research in academia surrounding the ECS pattern.
AB - Entity Component System (ECS) is an emerging software engineering pattern for implementing real-time applications. ECS has been primarily used in the video game industry, but its applications and implications have not been thoroughly studied in academia. This lack of academic study makes it difficult to assess ECS with the usual software engineering criteria and compare it to other architectures. In this paper, we conducted a systematic mapping study to identify ECS publication trends, ECS research focus, and the implications of developing with ECS. We performed searches in three databases, resulting in 82 total papers, from which we obtained 25 relevant papers. We synthesized the obtained papers to produce an overview of the state-of-the-art for ECS. This mapping study shows the main publication trends, and research focus, and shows that the literature has identified more benefits for ECS than downsides, potentially indicating a positive bias due to the novelty of the topic. This mapping study also serves as a foundation for future research in academia surrounding the ECS pattern.
KW - Data-Oriented Design
KW - ECS
KW - Entity Component System
KW - Game Engine
KW - Software Architecture
KW - Systematic Mapping Study
KW - Video Games
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105009164072
U2 - 10.1109/GAS66647.2025.00010
DO - 10.1109/GAS66647.2025.00010
M3 - Contribution to conference proceedings
AN - SCOPUS:105009164072
T3 - Proceedings - 2025 IEEE/ACM 9th International Workshop on Games and Software Engineering, GAS 2025
SP - 33
EP - 40
BT - Proceedings - 2025 IEEE/ACM 9th International Workshop on Games and Software Engineering, GAS 2025
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 9th IEEE/ACM International Workshop on Games and Software Engineering, GAS 2025
Y2 - 29 April 2025
ER -