How do I prevent memory leaks in my game?

Free what you allocate, destroy objects when done, remove references and event subscriptions, unload unused resources, and profile to confirm memory stabilizes, so usage does not grow unbounded. A leak is memory allocated and never freed, causing usage to climb until the game runs out and crashes (an out-of-memory crash after extended play). Common sources: objects not destroyed, references or event subscriptions not removed (a frequent cause, something holds a reference preventing cleanup), and resources not unloaded. To prevent leaks, ensure everything you allocate gets freed when no longer needed, and profile memory over a long session to confirm it stabilizes rather than growing. Bugnet captures out-of-memory crashes with memory context and breadcrumbs, so you can confirm a leak (crashes clustering after extended play, with growing memory) and, after fixing it, verify per version that the out-of-memory crashes dropped, complementing the profiling that confirms memory stabilizes.

How do I know if my game has a memory leak?

Check whether memory grows over a session without stabilizing (profiling) and whether out-of-memory crashes cluster after extended play, both are leak signatures. A leak shows two ways: memory that grows steadily during play and never settles (profile over a long session, if it keeps climbing, that is a leak), and out-of-memory crashes that happen after extended play (since a leak takes time to exhaust memory, so the crashes cluster late in sessions, not immediately). Both together confirm a leak, distinguishing it from a fixed-footprint memory problem (which crashes based on device memory regardless of session length). Bugnet captures out-of-memory crashes with memory context and breadcrumbs, so you can see whether they cluster after extended play (the leak signature), confirming a leak from the crash pattern, which combined with profiling (showing memory growth) verifies it, so you know to find and fix the leak.

Why does my game run out of memory after a while?

Usually because of a memory leak, memory allocated and never freed grows over a session until it runs out and crashes, with the crash coming after a while because that is how long the leak takes to fill memory. A game that runs out of memory after extended play (not immediately) is showing the classic leak signature: memory grows over the session as leaked allocations accumulate, until it exhausts available memory and the game crashes. The delay before the crash is how long the leak takes to fill memory. Other accumulation (objects piling up, growing collections) can also cause it, but a memory leak is the most common. To confirm and find it, capture the out-of-memory crashes (which cluster late in sessions) and profile over a long session to see memory growing. Bugnet captures out-of-memory crashes with memory context, so you can confirm the leak (late-session crashes, growing memory) and, after fixing it (freeing what is not freed), verify per version that the out-of-memory crashes dropped, addressing the leak that makes your game run out of memory after a while.

Ways to Prevent Memory Leaks

Quick answer: Free objects when done, remove references and event subscriptions, unload unused resources, and profile over a long session to confirm memory stabilizes, leaks come from memory allocated and never freed.

A memory leak makes usage grow until the game runs out and crashes. Here are the best ways to prevent memory leaks.

Free Objects and Remove References

Prevent leaks by freeing objects when you are done with them and removing references and event subscriptions that keep objects alive. A frequent leak source is references (especially event subscriptions) not removed, preventing cleanup, so releasing them lets memory be reclaimed.

Bugnet captures out-of-memory crashes with memory context and breadcrumbs, so you can confirm a leak (crashes clustering after extended play) and verify per version that freeing objects and references stopped the crashes.

Unload Unused Resources

Prevent leaks by unloading resources and assets you are no longer using (textures, audio, data) rather than holding them, since retained resources accumulate and grow memory over a session. Unloading what you do not need keeps the footprint stable.

Bugnet captures out-of-memory crashes, so you can see whether retained resources are growing memory until it runs out, and verify per version that unloading unused resources stopped the out-of-memory crashes.

Profile Over a Long Session

Confirm you have no leak by profiling memory over a long session, if memory keeps growing without stabilizing, you have a leak, if it settles at a footprint, you do not. A short test will not show a slow leak, so profile over time.

Bugnet captures out-of-memory crashes with memory context (and the late-session pattern of a leak), so you can confirm a leak from the crash pattern, complementing your long-session profiling that shows whether memory stabilizes.

Prevent memory leaks by freeing objects when done, removing references and event subscriptions, unloading unused resources, and profiling over a long session to confirm memory stabilizes.