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Autodesk Stingray, formerly known as Bitsquid, is a discontinued 3D game engine with support for Linux, Windows, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Android and iOS. It uses the Lua scripting language.[1]
| Developer(s) |
|
|---|---|
| Written in | C++, Lua |
| Platform | Linux, Windows, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Android, iOS |
| License | Proprietary |
Bitsquid
Bitsquid AB, the company that created the Bitsquid game engine, was founded in 2009 in Stockholm, Sweden, Niklas Frykholm and Tobias Persson, two engineers who had previously worked at game studio Grin, and by the owners of game developer Fatshark.[2][3]
The game engine was built to be flexible and scalable, with support for visual scripting, Lua, and C++ for advanced users.[4] The use of Lua allowed Bitsquid to be smaller and lighter than other game engines thanks to its lean code base.[1][5]
In April 2010, Bitsquid and Fatshark released a demo highlighting the Bitsquid engine's capabilities. Support for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 was made available that fall.[6] In 2011, Fatshark released Hamilton's Great Adventure, the first game to run on Bitsquid.[4] In 2013, Bitsquid was made available for development in PlayStation 4 games.[5]
Bitsquid was acquired by Autodesk in June 2014.[7][8] The money from the sale helped Fatshark develop Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide, the studio's first self-published AAA game.[9] Frykholm and Persson went on to develop a short-lived "modular" game engine called The Machinery.[10]
Autodesk Stingray
In 2015, Bitsquid was retooled into Autodesk Stingray, which integrated with the company's game development toolchain, including 3ds Max, Maya, Mudbox, and Maya LT.[11][12] Autodesk hoped to compete with other low-cost-to-enter game engines like Unreal Engine, Unity, and CryEngine. Stingray was offered on a monthly subscription basis and even packaged with some of the company's other offerings.[13]
In June 2017, Autodesk introduced Stingray as a 3ds Max plugin called 3ds Max Interactive. This feature allowed 3ds Max users to create virtual reality experiences.[14] In December 2017, citing its inability to compete with Unreal Engine and Unity, Autodesk announced Stingray's end of sale and development as a standalone product, effective as of January 7, 2018.[15][16] 3DS Max Interactive was discontinued on March 30, 2022.[17]
On February 8, 2024, Arrowhead Game Studios released Helldivers 2, a third-person co-op shooter built in Stingray, six years after official support ended.[18] CEO Johan Pilestedt confirmed that the game had entered production before the shutdown in 2018.[3]
Bitsquid and Stingray were primarily used by Sweden-based developers, such as Fatshark and Arrowhead Game Studios.[3][18] Each have used the engine in a number of their games. Games built with the engine include:[19][20]
| Title | Release Date | Developer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| A Game of Dwarves | 2012-10-23 | Zeal Game Studio |
| Bloodsports.TV | 2015-03-30 | Fatshark,
Toadman Interactive |
| Cobalt | 2016-02-02 | Oxeye Game Studio |
| Dreadlands | 2020-03-10 | Blackfox Studios AB |
| Escape Dead Island | 2014-11-18 | Fatshark |
| Hamilton's Great Adventure | 2011-05-31 | Fatshark |
| Immortal: Unchained | 2018-09-07 | Toadman Interactive |
| #KILLALLZOMBIES | 2014-10-28 | Beatshapers |
| Krater | 2012-06-12 | Fatshark |
| Gauntlet | 2014-09-23 | Arrowhead Game Studios |
| Helldivers | 2015-03-03 | Arrowhead Game Studios |
| Helldivers 2[3] | 2024-02-08 | Arrowhead Game Studios |
| Magicka: Wizard Wars | 2014-05-27 | Paradox North AB |
| Magicka 2 | 2015-05-26 | Pieces Interactive |
| The Showdown Effect | 2013-03-05 | Arrowhead Game Studios,
Pixeldiet Entertainment |
| War of the Vikings | 2014-04-15 | Fatshark |
| War of the Roses | 2012-10-02 | Fatshark |
| Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide[4] | 2015-10-23 | Fatshark |
| Warhammer: Vermintide 2 | 2018-03-08 | Fatshark |
| Warhammer 40,000: Darktide | 2022-11-30 | Fatshark |
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