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DayZ Creator Dean Hall Releases BRUTAL, a Free Open-Source C# Game Framework
DayZ creator Dean Hall has released BRUTAL, a royalty-free, open-source C# framework for making games or building your own engine. It currently targets Windows and Linux.
DayZ creator Dean Hall has released BRUTAL, a free, open-source development framework written in C# that developers can use to build games directly or as the base for their own engines. Hall, who heads New Zealand studio RocketWerkz, presents it as a counterweight to developers' dependence on a handful of large engine makers.
What was announced
BRUTAL is a framework rather than a full engine. Its core is an interop layer that gives C# access to native APIs and libraries, with a focus on low allocations and minimal overhead, according to GamesIndustry.biz. It also includes supporting libraries for mathematics, memory management, strings, job scheduling, logging and localization, as 80 Level reports. The framework currently targets Windows and Linux and is built on Vulkan.
Hall frames the project as a response to over-reliance on a few tool makers. "You are only as independent as your tools are," he said, while adding that Unity and Unreal remain the right choice for many projects and that BRUTAL is not meant to replace them. He has also described it on Reddit as "not a game engine, but a framework."
The framework already has real projects behind it. RocketWerkz's space simulator Kitten Space Agency uses it, and so does Ludeon's Waylith engine, the foundation of RimWorld's new engine. A work-in-progress project from Felipe Falanghe, the creator of Kerbal Space Program, is also listed. GamesIndustry.biz counts six projects across three studios, and 80 Level reports that several RocketWerkz games in development have replaced their previous engines with BRUTAL.
Key details
- Developers: Ahwoo, with Dean Hall and RocketWerkz
- Language and tech: C#, Vulkan rendering (a Vulkan 1.3-capable GPU is required), .NET 10 SDK
- Platforms: Windows and Linux
- License: Free for commercial games with no royalties; the README describes it as MIT-based with an added attribution requirement and says it is not yet OSI approved
- Repository: github.com/ahwootech/BRUTAL
- Development start: 2022, according to GamesIndustry.biz
- Missing or unconfirmed: No public release date or version number is shown on the repository, and platforms beyond Windows and Linux are not mentioned. Press coverage describes only a credit requirement, while the README also asks games to show the BRUTAL logo before gameplay, a rule waived for non-profit projects.
What it means for developers
- Read the license before you commit. Commercial use is royalty-free, but the README's logo and NOTICE.txt requirements are stricter than the press coverage suggests. Plan your credits screen early.
- Frameworks are becoming a real option. BRUTAL suits teams that want direct control over native systems through C#. It is not a Unity or Unreal replacement, and Hall says so himself.
- Check the hardware and SDK requirements. The .NET 10 SDK and a Vulkan 1.3-capable GPU are required for rendering, so it is not a drop-in for older machines.
- Expect a narrow platform scope for now. Only Windows and Linux are listed, so projects that need consoles or macOS should wait for confirmed support.
- Treat it as young software. With no dated releases and no OSI approval yet, pin versions, read the source and watch the issue tracker before building a production dependency on it.
