Middleware for games is a piece of software that is integrated into a game engine to handle some specialized aspect of it, such as

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...

or networking.

Notable

Autodesk Gameware Autodesk Gameware is a discontinued middleware software suite developed by Autodesk. The suite contained tools that enable designers to create game lighting, character animation, low level path finding, high-level AI and advanced user interfaces. O ...

- from Autodesk, includes

Scaleform GFx Scaleform GFx is a discontinued game development middleware package, a vector graphics rendering engine used to display Adobe Flash-based user interfaces and HUDs for video games. In March 2011, Autodesk acquired Scaleform Corporation and Scale ...

, Kynapse, Beast and HumanIK *

Nvidia GameWorks Nvidia GameWorks is a middleware software suite developed by Nvidia. The Visual FX, PhysX and Optix SDKs provide a wide range of enhancements pre-optimized for Nvidia GPUs. GameWorks is partially open-source. The competing solution being in devel ...

- visual FX, physics, particle and fluid simulations
Simplygon
- automated 3D content optimization for a variety of assets as vegetation, buildings, scene views... *

SpeedTree SpeedTree is a group of vegetation programming and modeling software products developed and sold by Interactive Data Visualization, Inc. (IDV) that generates virtual foliage for animations, architecture and in real time for video games and dema ...

- vegetation programming and modelling software products * xaitment - customizable and modular game AI software for navigation mesh generation, pathfinding, character behavioral modeling and more

AI: Pathfinding, collisions

AiLive AiLive Inc. (formerly iKuni) is a software company based in Mountain View, California, Mountain View, California. The company was co-founded in 2000 by software programmer and developer Wei Yen and by computer engineer Xiaoyuan Tu. The company has ...

- a suite of game AI middleware * Kythera AI - Complete AI Toolset Middleware * Mercuna - 3D navigation middleware

Full-Motion Video

* Bink Video - video file format, video compression tools and playback library from RAD Game Tools. * CRI-Sofdec - created by

CRI Middleware (formerly CSK Research Institute Corp.) is a Japanese developer providing middleware for use in the video game industry. From the early nineties, CRI was a video game developer, but shifted focus in 2001. History CRI started out as CSK Research I ...

. It is highly used in

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...

games.

Online Multiplayer

DemonWare Demonware, Inc. is an Irish software development company and a subsidiary of Activision, a video game division of Activision Blizzard. Demonware's products enable games publishers to outsource their networking requirements, allowing them to con ...

- created by

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

. * Steamworks - used for Valve Corporation's

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

Physics & Animation

Cocos2D Cocos2d is a free software framework. It can be used to build games, apps and other cross platform GUI based interactive programs. Cocos2d contains many branches with the best known being Cocos2d-objc, Cocos2d-x, Cocos2d-html5 and Cocos2d-XN ...

- 2D physics engine. *

Euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

- 3D human animation engine created by

NaturalMotion NaturalMotion is a British video game development company with development offices in London, Brighton and Birmingham. Founded in November 2001 as a spin-out company from Oxford University, NaturalMotion specialises in creating animation techno ...

based on Dynamic Motion Synthesis.
FaceFX
- realistic facial animation engine created by OC3 Entertainment. * Havok - 3D physics engine.

Real-Time Rendering

trueSKY
- real-time sky & weather renderer created by Simul Software.

Sound

* CRI-ADX - created by

. It is highly used in

games. * FMOD *

Miles Sound System Miles Sound System (MSS), formerly known as Audio Interface Library (AIL), is a sound software system primarily for video games and used mostly as an alternative for low-end audio chipsets. It uses little Central processing unit, CPU time while p ...

- audio authoring tools and engine developed by RAD Game Tools. *

Wwise Wwise (Wave Works Interactive Sound Engine) is Audiokinetic's software for interactive media and video games, available for free to non-commercial users and under license for commercial video game developers. It features an audio authoring tool and ...

- audio engine and authoring tools from

Audiokinetic Audiokinetic Inc. is a Canadian software company based in Montreal, Quebec that develops audio software for the video game industry. Its main product is Wwise audio authoring software. On January 8, 2019, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced ...