List of first-person shooter engines

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

Early 1970s - Late 1980s: wireframes to flat-shaded 3D

Game engine	First used for	Date	Other first-person shooters
—	Maze	1973
—	Spasim	1974
Arsys Software	Plazma Line	1984	Wibarm (1986), Star Cruiser (1988), Star Cruiser 2 (1992)
Freescape	Driller	1987	Dark Side (1988), Total Eclipse (1988), Castle Master (1990), Castle Master II: The Crypt (1990), Total Eclipse II: The Sphinx Jinx (1991)
—	The Colony	1988

Early 1990s: 2.5D environments and textures

Game engine	First used for	Date	Other first-person shooters
—	The Super Spy	1990	Crossed Swords (1991)
Wolf 3D Engine 0.5	Hovertank 3D	1990
Wolfenstein 3D Engine 0.9	Catacomb 3D	1991
—	Gun Buster	1992
Wolfenstein 3D engine	Wolfenstein 3D	1992	Spear of Destiny (1992), Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold (1993), Operation Body Count (1994), Corridor 7: Alien Invasion (1994), Blake Stone: Planet Strike (1994), Rise of the Triad (1994), Super Noah's Ark 3D (1994)
Underworld Engine	Ultima Underworld	1992	System Shock (1994)
KenTech	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), The Ultimate Doom (1995), Hexen: Beyond Heretic (1995), Master Levels for Doom II (1995), Hexen: Deathkings of the Dark Citadel (1996), Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders (1996), Strife: Quest for the Sigil (1996), Final Doom (1996), Chex Quest (1996), Chex Quest 2: Flemoids Take Chextropolis (1997), Doom 64 (1997)
Aleph Zero	Marathon	1994
Build Engine	Legend of the Seven Paladins	1994	Witchaven (1995), William Shatner's TekWar (1995), Duke Nukem 3D (1996), Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance (1996), Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition (1996), PowerSlave (1996, PC version), Redneck Rampage (1997), Blood (1997), Shadow Warrior (1997), Redneck Rampage: Suckin' Grits on Route 66 (1998), Redneck Rampage Rides Again (1998), NAM (1998), Extreme Paintbrawl (1998), World War II GI (1999), Ion Fury (2019)
Aleph One	Marathon 2: Durandal	1995	Marathon Infinity (1996), Prime Target (1996), ZPC (1996), Damage Incorporated (1997)
Jedi Engine	Star Wars: Dark Forces	1995	Outlaws (1997)
Gloom	Gloom	1995	Gloom 2, Gloom 3, Gloom mods (1995–2015)
BreedTech	Alien Breed 3D	1995
BreedTech 2	Alien Breed 3D II: The Killing Grounds	1996
—	Assassin 2015	1996	Goosebumps: Attack of the Mutant (1997)
—	Chasm: The Rift	1997

Mid 1990s: 3D texture mapping , beginnings of hardware acceleration

Game engine	First used for	Date	Other first-person shooters
—	Geograph Seal	1994
—	Descent	1995	Descent II (1996), Descent 3 (1999)
XnGine	The Terminator: Future Shock	1995	The Terminator: SkyNET (1996)
Quake engine	Quake	1996	Hexen II (1997), Malice (1997), X-Men: The Ravages of Apocalypse (1997), Laser Arena (2000), Wrath: Aeon of Ruin (2019)
SlaveDriver	PowerSlave (Sega Saturn version)	1996	Quake (1997, Sega Saturn version), Duke Nukem 3D (1997, Sega Saturn version)
TurokTech	Turok: Dinosaur Hunter	1997	Turok 2: Seeds of Evil (1998), South Park (1998), Turok: Rage Wars (1999), Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion (2000)
RareWare Engine	GoldenEye 007	1997	Perfect Dark (2000)
Sith engine	Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II	1997
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)

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

Game engine	First used for	Date	Other first-person shooters
Unreal Engine	Unreal	1998	Star Trek: The Next Generation: Klingon Honor Guard (1998), Unreal Tournament (1999), Deus Ex (2000), Clive Barker's Undying (2001)
GoldSrc	Half-Life	1998	Counter-Strike (2000), Gunman Chronicles (2000), James Bond 007: Nightfire (2002, PC version), Day of Defeat (2003), Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (2004)
Dark Engine	Thief: The Dark Project	1998	System Shock 2 (1999), Thief II: The Metal Age (2000)
Torque	Starsiege: Tribes	1998	Tribes 2 (2001)
id Tech 3	Quake III Arena	1999	Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force (2000), Quake III: Team Arena (2000), Urban Terror (2000), Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001), Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (2002), Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (2002), Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix (2002), Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory (2003), Star Trek: Elite Force II (2003), Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (2003), Call of Duty (2003), ioquake3 (2005), OpenArena (2006), Tremulous (2006)
Lithtech 2.x	The Operative: No One Lives Forever	2000

Early 2000s: increasing detail, outdoor environments, ragdoll physics

Game engine	First used for	Date	Other first-person shooters
Serious Engine	Serious Sam: The First Encounter	2001	Serious Sam: The Second Encounter (2002)
Real Virtuality	Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis	2001	VBS1 (2002), ArmA: Armed Assault (2007), ARMA II (2009)
Cube Engine	Cube	2001	AssaultCube (2008)
SAGE	Command & Conquer: Renegade	2002
Unreal Engine 2	America's Army	2002	Unreal Tournament 2003 (2002) Unreal II: The Awakening (2003), Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield (2003), Devastation (2003), Postal 2 (2003), Unreal Tournament 2004 (2004)
Refractor 2	Battlefield 1942	2002	Battlefield Vietnam (2004), Battlefield 2 (2005), Battlefield 2142 (2006)
Lithtech Jupiter	No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way	2002	Tron 2.0 (2003)

Mid 2000s: dynamic lighting, early shader implementation

Game engine	First used for	Date	Other first-person shooters
Blam Engine	Halo: Combat Evolved	2001	Halo 2 (2004), Stubbs the Zombie (2005), Halo 3 (2007), Halo 3: ODST (2009), Halo: Reach (2010), Halo 4 (2012), Halo 5: Guardians (2015)
Diesel	Ballistics	2001	Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (2006, PC version only), Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (2007, PC version only), Payday: The Heist (2011), Payday 2 (2013), Raid: World War II (2017)
Zero	Star Wars: The Clone Wars	2002	Star Wars: Battlefront (2004), Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005)
Unreal Engine 2.5	Tribes Vengeance	2004	Unreal Tournament 2004 (2004), BioShock (2007), Duke Nukem Forever (2011)
CryEngine	Far Cry	2004	Far Cry Instincts (2005), Far Cry Instincts: Evolution (2006), Far Cry Instincts: Predator (2006), Far Cry Vengeance (2006)
Cube 2 Engine	Cube 2: Sauerbraten	2004	Red Eclipse (2011)
id Tech 4	Doom 3	2004	Quake 4 (2005), Prey (2006), Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (2007), Wolfenstein (2009), Brink (2011)
Source	Counter-Strike: Source	2004	Half-Life 2 (2004), Half-Life 2: Deathmatch (2004), Half-Life: Source (2004), Day of Defeat: Source (2005), Half-Life 2: Lost Coast (2005), Half-Life Deathmatch: Source (2006), Half-Life 2: Episode One (2006), SiN Episodes (2006), The Ship (2006), Kuma\War (2006), Half-Life 2: Episode Two (2007), Team Fortress 2 (2007), Dystopia (2007), Left 4 Dead (2008), Left 4 Dead 2 (2009), Zeno Clash (2009), NeoTokyo (2009), Bloody Good Time (2010), No More Room in Hell (2011), Nuclear Dawn (2011), Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (2012), Consortium (2014), Fistful of Frags (2014), Day of Infamy (2017), Black Mesa (2020)
Lithtech Jupiter EX	F.E.A.R.	2005	Combat Arms (2008), F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (2009)
IW engine	Call of Duty	2005	Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007), Call of Duty: World at War (2008), 007: Quantum of Solace (2008), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009), Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011), Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012), Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013), Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015), Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016), Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (2018), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020), Call of Duty: Vanguard (2021), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)
Unity	GooBall	2005	Deus Ex: The Fall (2013), Interstellar Marines (2013),Dead Effect (2013), Superhot (2016), DUSK (2018)
X-Ray Engine	S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl	2007	S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky (2008)

Late 2000s to 2010s: high-resolution textures, widescreen resolution, unified shader model

Game engine	First used for	Date	Other first-person shooters
Unreal Engine 3	Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas	2006	Medal of Honor: Airborne (2007), Unreal Tournament 3 (2007), Turok (2008), Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (2008), Aliens: Colonial Marines (2013), Borderlands (2009), Tribes: Ascend (2012), BioShock Infinite (2013)
CryEngine 2	Crysis	2007	Crysis Warhead (2008), Entropia Universe (2009)
Dunia Engine	Far Cry 2	2008
Frostbite Engine	Battlefield: Bad Company	2008	Battlefield 1943 (2009), Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (2010), Medal of Honor (2010, multiplayer only), Battlefield 3 (2011), Battlefield 4 (2013), Battlefield Hardline (2015), Star Wars Battlefront (2015), Battlefield 1 (2016), Star Wars Battlefront II (2017), Battlefield V (2018), Star Wars: Squadrons (2020), Battlefield 2042 (2021), Dead Space (2023)
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)
X-ray engine 1.6	S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat	2009
id Tech 5	Rage	2011	Wolfenstein: The New Order (2014), Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (2015)
CryEngine 3	Crysis 2	2011	Crysis (2011, console versions), Crysis 3 (2013), Warface (2013), Enemy Front (2014)
Vision Engine 8	7554	2011	Dizzel (2014)
Dunia 2	Far Cry 3	2012	Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (2013), Far Cry 4 (2014), Far Cry Primal (2016), Far Cry 5 (2018), Far Cry 6 (2021)
Real Virtuality 4	ArmA 3	2013
Decima	Killzone: Shadow Fall	2013	RIGS: Mechanized Combat League (2016)
Tiger Engine	Destiny	2014	Destiny 2 (2017)
CryEngine 4	Evolve	2015	Homefront: The Revolution (2016), Prey (2017)
Unreal Engine 4	Space Hulk: Deathwing	2016	LawBreakers (2017), Hypercharge: Unboxed (2017), Insurgency: Sandstorm (2018), Borderlands 3 (2019), Bright Memory (2019), Descent (2019), Postal 4 (2019), Atomic Heart (2023),
id Tech 6	Doom	2016	Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (2017), Wolfenstein: Youngblood (2019), Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot (2019)
Dawn Engine	Deus Ex: Mankind Divided	2016
CryEngine V	Hunt: Showdown (2018)	2016	Crysis Remastered (2020)

2020s: 8K, real-time ray-tracing

Game engine	First used for	Date	Other first-person shooters
id Tech 7	Doom Eternal	2020
Source 2	Half-Life: Alyx	2020	Counter-Strike 2 (2023), S&Box (TBA)
Slipspace	Halo Infinite	2021
Unreal Engine 5	Immortals of Aveum	2023	RoboCop: Rogue City (2023), The Finals (2023)
CryEngine 6	TBA	TBA

Specialized engines/engine middle-ware

Some features may be integrated into engines. For instance for trees and foliage a special "engine" is available, SpeedTree, that does just that (or could be integrated into general engines). The Euphoria character's 3D animating engine can be used independently but is integrated in the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine and the game Grand Theft Auto IV.

References