List of first-person shooter engines

See also: List of game engines

This is a sortable list of first-person shooter engines.

Early FPS graphics engines

Game engine	First used for	Other First-person shooters
N/A	Maze War (1973)
N/A	Spasim (1974)
Arsys Software	WiBArm (1986)	Star Cruiser (1988), Star Cruiser 2 (1992)
Freescape engine	Driller (1987)	Dark Side (1988), Total Eclipse (1988), Castle Master (1990), Castle Master II: The Crypt (1990), The Sphinx Jinx (1991)
N/A	The Colony (1988)

Early 1990s: wireframes to 2.5D worlds and textures

Game engine	First used for	Other First-person shooters
N/A	The Super Spy (1990)	Crossed Swords (1991)
N/A	Hovertank 3D (1990)
N/A	Catacomb 3D (1991)
N/A	Gun Buster (1992)
Wolfenstein 3D engine	Wolfenstein 3D (1992)	Rise of the Triad (1994), Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold (1994)
Underworld Engine	Ultima Underworld (1992)	System Shock (1994)
N/A	Ken's Labyrinth (1993)
Pie in the Sky	Lethal Tender (1993)	Terminal Terror (1994), Pencil Whipped (2000), various others (1994–1998)
id Tech 1	Doom (1993)	Doom II: Hell on Earth (1994), Heretic (1994), HeXen (1995), Strife (1996)
N/A	Marathon (1994)
Marathon 2	Marathon 2: Durandal (1995)	Marathon Infinity (1996), Prime Target (1996), ZPC (1996), Damage Incorporated (1997)
Jedi Engine	Star Wars: Dark Forces (1995)	Outlaws (1997)
Build Engine	Witchaven (1995)	Duke Nukem 3D (1996), Blood (1997), Shadow Warrior (1997), Redneck Rampage (1997)

Mid 1990s: 3D models, beginnings of hardware acceleration

Game engine	First used for	Other First-person shooters
N/A	Metal Head (1994)
N/A	Geograph Seal (1994)	Jumping Flash! (1995), Jumping Flash! 2 (1996), Robbit Mon Dieu (1999), Pocket MuuMuu (1999)
XnGine Engine	The Terminator: Future Shock (1995)	Terminator: SkyNET (1996)
N/A	Descent (1995)	Descent II (1996), Descent to Undermountain (1997)
Quake engine	Quake (1996)	Hexen II (1997)
GoldenEye engine	GoldenEye 007 (1997)	Perfect Dark (2000)
id Tech 2	Quake II (1997)	Heretic II (1998), Sin (1998), Kingpin: Life of Crime (1999), Soldier of Fortune (2000), Daikatana (2000)
Lithtech 1.0	Shogo: Mobile Armor Division (1998)	Blood II: The Chosen (1998)
GoldSrc	Half-Life (1998)	Counter-Strike (2000), 007: Nightfire (2002), Day of Defeat (2003)

Late 1990s: 32-bit color, GPUs become standard

Game engine	First used for	Other First-person shooters
Unreal engine	Unreal (1998)	Unreal Tournament (1999), Deus Ex (2000), Clive Barker's Undying (2001)
Dark engine	Thief: The Dark Project (1998)	System Shock 2 (1999), Thief II: The Metal Age (2000)
Torque Game Engine	Starsiege: Tribes (1998)	Tribes 2 (2001)
id Tech 3	Quake III Arena (1999)	Star Trek: Voyager: Elite Force (2000), Urban Terror (2000), Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001), Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix (2002), Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (2002), Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (2003), Call of Duty (2003), Star Trek: Elite Force II (2003), Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (2002), ioquake3 (2005), OpenArena (2006), Tremulous (2006),
Lithtech Talon	No One Lives Forever (2000)	Aliens vs. Predator 2 (2001)
Fusion engine	Descent 3 (1999)

Early 2000s: increasing detail, outdoor environments, rag-doll physics

Game engine	First used for	Other First-person shooters
Refractor Engine	Codename Eagle (2000)
Refractor 2	Battlefield 1942 (2002)	Battlefield Vietnam (2004), Battlefield 2 (2005), Battlefield 2142 (2006)
Glacier engine	Hitman: Codename 47 (2000)	Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (2002), Freedom Fighters (2003), Hitman: Contracts (2004), Hitman: Blood Money (2006), Kane and Lynch: Dead Men (2007), Kane and Lynch: Dog Days (2010)
SAGE Engine	Command & Conquer: Renegade (2002)
LS3D engine	Mafia (2002)	Hidden & Dangerous 2 (2004), Chameleon (2005)
Unreal Engine 2.0	Unreal Tournament 2003 (2002)	Unreal II: The Awakening (2002), Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield (2003), Devastation (2003), Postal 2 (2003)
Lithtech Jupiter	No One Lives Forever 2 (2002)	Tron 2.0 (2003)
Lithtech 2.5	Global Operations (2002)
N/A	Metroid Prime (2002)	Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004)
Cube Engine	Cube (2002–2005)	Assault Cube
Real Virtuality	Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis (2001)	VBS1 (2002), ArmA: Armed Assault (2007), ARMA II (2009)

Mid 2000s: lighting and pixel shaders, physics

Game engine	First used for	Other First-person shooters
Zero (proprietary Pandemic Studios engine)	Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2002)	Star Wars: Battlefront (2004), Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005), The Lord of the Rings: Conquest (2009)
Unreal Engine 2.5	Tribes Vengeance (2004)	S.W.A.T. 4 (2004), Unreal Tournament 2004 (2004), Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (2010), Duke Nukem Forever (2011)
PAIN engine	Painkiller (2004)
CryEngine	Far Cry (2004)	Aion: Tower of Eternity (2008)
Cube engine Version 2	Cube 2: Sauerbraten (2004–present)	Einstern, Red Eclipse (2011)
id Tech 4	Doom 3 (2004)	Quake 4 (2005), Prey (2006), Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (2007), Wolfenstein (2009)
Halo engine	Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)	Halo 2 (2004), Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse (2005)
Source engine	Counter-Strike Source (2004)	Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (2004), Half-Life 2 (2004), Day of Defeat: Source (2005), Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (2006), Empires (2006), Sin Episodes - Emergence (2006), Half-Life 2: Episode 1 (2006), Half-Life 2: Episode 2 (2007), Team Fortress 2 (2007), Portal (2007), Left 4 Dead (2008), Zeno Clash (2009), Left 4 Dead 2 (2009), Portal 2 (2011), Postal III (2011)
Lithtech Jupiter EX	F.E.A.R. (2005)	Condemned: Criminal Origins (2005), Condemned 2: Bloodshot (2008), Combat Arms (2008) F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (2009)
X-ray engine	S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (2007)	S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky (2009)

Late 2000s: the approach to photorealism

Game engine	First used for	Other First-person shooters
Unreal Engine 3	Gears of War (2006)	Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas (2006), BioShock (2007), Medal of Honor: Airborne (2007), Unreal Tournament 3 (2007), Turok (2008), Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (2008), Aliens: Colonial Marines (2008), Borderlands (2009)
CryEngine 2	Crysis (2007)	Crysis Warhead (2008)
CryEngine 3	Crysis 2 (2011)	Crysis (2011, console versions)
Dunia Engine	Far Cry 2 (2008)
EGO engine	Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising (2009)
Real Virtuality 3	ArmA 2 (2009)
Chrome Engine 4	Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (2009)	Dead Island (2011)
id Tech 5	Rage (2011)	Doom 4 (TBA)
Halo Reach Engine	Halo: Reach
Vision Engine 8	Dizzel	7554 (November 26, 2011)
X-ray engine 1.6	S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (2010)
Frostbite Engine	Battlefield: Bad Company	Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Medal of Honor (2010, multiplayer only), Battlefield 3, Need for Speed: The Run, Mirror's Edge 2 (TBA)

See also

• List of free first-person shooters
• List of game engines
• First-person shooter engine