Renowned figure in the industry, Dean Hall, has unveiled Brutal, a game development framework that is open-source and a collaboration between his two companies, Ahwoo and RocketWerkz.
This technology is developed in C# and is available for free, even for commercial game usage. There are no royalties involved; developers only need to acknowledge the Brutal framework in the credits of their games. The development of Brutal commenced in 2022 and has already been implemented in six projects across three different studios, including RocketWerkz’s Kitten Space Adventure and the new Waylith engine utilized by Ludeon Studios’ Rimworld. Additionally, Felipe Falanghe, the creator of Kerbal Space Program, is also utilizing Brutal for a project.
In an extensive post on Reddit, Hall clarified that Brutal is not a game engine but rather a framework. Nonetheless, developers can create games directly using the technology, as demonstrated by RocketWerkz with Kitten Space Agency, or they can use it to develop their own engines, as done by Ludeon Studios.
At the core of Brutal is a custom interoperability layer that provides C# with access to native APIs and libraries. Numerous libraries support this feature. Hall emphasizes that Brutal has been meticulously designed with a focus on minimizing allocations and unnecessary overhead, with an emphasis on excelling in a few low-level tasks.
One of the driving forces behind the creation of Brutal is Hall’s observation that industry giants like Unity and Unreal often escape accountability from developers.
“I believe this issue could worsen as certain workflows undermine the competitive advantages that have shielded established software companies,” stated the DayZ creator.
“I am concerned that as these advantages diminish, the companies involved will increasingly seek to extract more revenue from developers who may feel trapped and unable to switch platforms. This could be through royalties, subscriptions, or stricter licensing policies.”
Hall pointed out various issues with developers faced by Unity and also criticized Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney for focusing on trends like the metaverse and AI instead of addressing developers’ concerns related to performance, stability, and practical implications of decisions made by engine providers.
Regarding developers feeling constrained by large corporations, Hall continued, “Imagine your ability to work on your own game being dependent on decisions made by a company over which you have no control. I don’t suggest that developers should immediately abandon Unity or Unreal. For many projects, they are the ideal choice, and I acknowledge that Brutal cannot replace what they offer. However, we have created an environment where dependency on a few major technology companies has become the norm, and we have come to accept it as inevitable.”
“I anticipate that more frameworks like Brutal will emerge in this landscape. Not because everyone will abandon existing engines, but because the cost of creating alternatives will significantly decrease. I hope these alternatives remain free. BRUTAL may not resolve all the industry’s challenges, but for some developers, it could provide a lifeline.”
“This technology is a small step towards rebalancing power dynamics. If the tools are public, if you have access to the source code, and if you are free to build your own systems on top of them, you have choices. If the day comes when we fail to be accountable to developers ourselves, they should have the ability to fork the framework and pursue their own path. This is crucial to me.”