List of first-person shooter engines

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

Early first-person shooter graphics engines[]

Game engine	First used for	Date	Other first-person shooters
N/A	Maze War	1973
N/A	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), (1990), Total Eclipse II: The Sphinx Jinx (1991), 3D Construction Kit (1991), 3D Construction Kit II (1992)
N/A	The Colony	1988

Early 1990s: wireframes to 2.5D worlds and textures[]

Game engine	First used for	Date	Other first-person shooter
N/A	The Super Spy	1990	Crossed Swords (1991)
	Hovertank 3D	1990
	Catacomb 3D	1991
N/A	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)
	Ultima Underworld	1992	System Shock (1994)
	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)
	Marathon	1994
Build Engine		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 Maiden (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	1995	, Gloom 3, Gloom mods (1995-2015)
BreedTech	Alien Breed 3D	1995
BreedTech 2	Alien Breed 3D II: The Killing Grounds	1996
N/A		1996	Goosebumps: Attack of the Mutant (1997)

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

Game engine	First used for	Date	Other first-person shooters
N/A	Geograph Seal	1994	Jumping Flash! (1995), Jumping Flash! 2 (1996), Robbit Mon Dieu (1999), Pocket MuuMuu (1999)
N/A	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)
	PowerSlave (Sega Saturn version)	1996	Quake (1997, Sega Saturn version), Duke Nukem 3D (1997, Sega Saturn version)
	Turok: Dinosaur Hunter	1997	Turok 2: Seeds of Evil (1998), South Park (1998), Turok: Rage Wars (1999), Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion (2000)
	GoldenEye 007	1997	Perfect Dark (2000)
	Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II	1997
	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	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, rag-doll physics[]

Game engine	First used for	Date	Other first-person shooters
Glacier	Hitman: Codename 47	2000	Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (2002), Freedom Fighters (2003), Hitman: Contracts (2004), Hitman: Blood Money (2006)
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 2.0	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: lighting and pixel shaders, physics[]

Game engine	First used for	Date	Other first-person shooters
Halo engine	Halo: Combat Evolved	2001	Halo 2 (2004), Halo 3 (2007), 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	Half-Life 2	2004	Half-Life 2: Deathmatch (2004), Half-Life: Source (2004), Counter-Strike: 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)
X-Ray Engine	S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl	2007	S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky (2008)
Unity			Deus Ex: The Fall (2013), Interstellar Marines (2013),Dead Effect (2013), Superhot (2016), DUSK (2018)

Late 2000s to 2010s: the approach to photorealism[]

Game engine	First used for	date	Other first-person shooters
Unreal Engine 3	Gears of War	2006	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	Far Cry 3 (2012), Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (2013)
Frostbite Engine	Battlefield: Bad Company	2008	Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Medal of Honor (2010, multiplayer only), Battlefield 3
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)
Real Virtuality 4	ArmA 3	2013
CryEngine 4		2013	Evolve (2015), Homefront: The Revolution (2016), Prey (2017)
Decima	Killzone: Shadow Fall	2013	RIGS: Mechanized Combat League (2016)
		2014	Red Eclipse (2011)
Source 2	Dota 2	2015	Half-Life: Alyx (2020), S&Box (TBA)
id Tech 6	Doom	2016	Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (2017), Doom VFR (2017), Wolfenstein: Youngblood (2019), Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot (2019)
CryEngine V	Hunt: Showdown (2018)	2016	Crysis Remastered (2020)
Unreal Engine 4	Barrage	2015	LawBreakers (2017), Hypercharge: Unboxed (2017), Insurgency: Sandstorm (2018), Borderlands 3 (2019), Bright Memory (2019), Descent (2019), Postal 4 (2019), Atomic Heart (2020)

2020s: 8K and high frame rates[]

Game engine	First used for	date
id Tech 7	Doom Eternal	2020
Slipspace	Halo Infinite	2021
Unreal Engine 5

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.