Stride — Open-Source Cross-Platform C# Game Engine

Introduction

Stride (formerly Xenko) is a fully open-source game engine built in C# that targets Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android. It provides a visual editor, physically-based rendering pipeline, and a component-based entity system, offering a complete alternative to proprietary engines for .NET developers.

What Stride Does

• Provides a full visual game editor with scene management, asset pipeline, and live preview
• Renders 3D scenes with a physically-based rendering pipeline supporting global illumination and post-processing
• Implements a flexible entity-component-system architecture for game logic
• Supports VR headsets through OpenXR integration
• Compiles and runs games on Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS from a single codebase

Architecture Overview

Stride is built on .NET and uses a multi-threaded architecture that separates rendering, physics, and game logic into independent update loops. The rendering pipeline is modular and graph-based, letting developers customize or replace individual stages. The asset system compiles raw assets (models, textures, audio) into optimized runtime formats during build. Physics uses Bullet via a managed wrapper, and the audio system supports spatialized 3D sound. The editor is a WPF application that communicates with a separate game process for live preview.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Download the Stride Launcher for one-click installation of the editor and SDK
• Alternatively, use .NET CLI templates for code-only projects without the editor
• Configure rendering quality, resolution, and graphics API (Vulkan, Direct3D) in game settings
• Manage NuGet dependencies through the standard .NET project system
• Build for target platforms using the integrated build pipeline or dotnet publish

Key Features

• Fully open-source under MIT license with no royalties or usage fees
• C# scripting with hot reload for rapid iteration during development
• Physically-based rendering with global illumination, shadows, and post-processing effects
• Built-in physics, audio, UI, and animation systems
• NuGet ecosystem integration for leveraging the entire .NET library ecosystem

Comparison with Similar Tools

• Unity — larger ecosystem and asset store but closed-source with licensing fees; Stride is fully open and royalty-free
• Godot — uses GDScript and C#; Stride is C#-first with a more advanced rendering pipeline
• Unreal Engine — higher visual fidelity out of the box but C++ focused; Stride offers a pure C# workflow
• MonoGame — a framework without an editor; Stride includes a full visual editor and asset pipeline
• Flax Engine — another C# engine with a visual editor; Stride has a longer open-source track record

FAQ

Q: Is Stride truly free for commercial games? A: Yes. Stride is MIT-licensed with no royalties, revenue sharing, or splash screen requirements.

Q: Can I use Stride without the visual editor? A: Yes. You can create and build projects entirely through .NET CLI and code.

Q: Does Stride support mobile platforms? A: Yes. Android and iOS are supported build targets, though the editor itself runs on desktop.

Q: How active is the community? A: Stride has an active Discord community and regular releases. Contributions come from both community members and sponsored developers.

Sources

• https://github.com/stride3d/stride
• https://www.stride3d.net/