Game engine
Stride
Stride is an MIT 3D engine with an editor. Scripts are C#. It was previously called Xenko.
Developer: Stride contributors
C# 3D gamesTeams that need an MIT editorProjects that do not need Unity's store
Overview
The editor is the Windows tool. Scenes, materials, and prefabs live there. Game code is C# attached to entities.
Linux players and mobile exports are part of the project story. The comfortable authoring machine is Windows.
Technical specifications
Specs checked 2026-10-05. Version lines move; the download link is the source of truth.
- Developer
- Stride contributors
- Version line
- Current release
- License
- MIT
- Business model
- Stride is MIT. Commercial games do not pay an engine royalty.
- Releases
- Releases are tagged on GitHub. The editor installer tracks those builds.
- Editor platforms
- Windows
- Export targets
- Windows, Linux, Android, iOS
- Languages
- C#
- 2D / 3D
- 3D
- VR
- VR is documented for desktop. Confirm the current manual before you promise a headset.
- AR
- No first-party mobile AR stack.
- Visual scripting
- No. Gameplay is C#.
- Beginners
- No. It is a full 3D editor for people who already write C#.
- Learning curve
- Moderate to steep. The editor helps. The engine is younger and smaller than Unity.
- Graphics
- Modern 3D with materials, lights, and a scene editor. Not the scale of Unreal's film tools.
- Team size
- Small teams that want C# and an MIT engine.
- GitHub stars
- 7,843 · stride3d/stride
- Documentation
- https://doc.stride3d.net/latest/en/
- Assets and examples
- https://doc.stride3d.net/latest/en/
- Download
- https://www.stride3d.net
Where it fits
- MIT, with an actual 3D editor.
- C# gameplay instead of a custom scripting language.
- A path that is not Unity's license.
Where it does not
- The asset store and hiring pool are much smaller than Unity.
- macOS is not the editor platform to plan on.
- You will read source and docs more often than you would in a larger engine.
Matching source
No sample projects are listed for this engine yet.
How does it compare?
C# and a much larger editor ecosystem, under a commercial license.
MIT C# without the 3D editor.
Questions
Is Stride free?
Yes. The engine is MIT.
What was Xenko?
The previous name of Stride.
Does the editor run on Mac?
Plan on Windows for the editor.
Ad