A Mapping Study of the Entity Component System Pattern

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.