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Unigine

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Unigine
Information
Type Game engine
Industry Simulation and training, visualization, video game development
Developer UNIGINE
Operating System Windows, Linux
License Commercial annual subscriptions; free Community edition with a revenue and funding cap
Supported Devices PC-based VR headsets through OpenXR, OpenVR and Varjo backends; stereo displays, video walls, multi-projector and CAVE systems
Release Date 2005 (SDK v0.3); UNIGINE 2.0: October 10, 2015
Website https://unigine.com


Unigine (styled UNIGINE) is a proprietary real-time 3D engine and software development kit developed by the company of the same name, which was established in 2005. The engine is used for professional simulators, training systems, visualization and digital twins, and also for games and virtual reality applications. The company also uses it to build its PC hardware benchmarks, including Heaven, Valley and Superposition.[1]

For VR work, the engine renders stereo output for PC-based head-mounted displays through three backends: OpenXR, OpenVR and a dedicated Varjo integration. Depending on the backend and the headset, it supports eye tracking, hand tracking, foveated rendering and video-passthrough mixed reality. It also drives stereo monitors, video walls, multi-projector and dome displays, and CAVE installations.[2][3][4] UNIGINE's documentation states that augmented reality development, including optical see-through AR and mobile AR, is not currently supported.[5] The current release is UNIGINE SDK 2.22, announced on September 10, 2026.[6]

Reviewed 6 October 2026. Company timeline, offices, SDK 2.0 to 2.22 release dates and XR features, VR backend and display documentation, pricing, benchmark details, Tom's Hardware, CG Channel, Developer Tech, 80 Level, Airframer and Varjo citations checked against the cited pages. About review dates.

History

UNIGINE's company history says it began in 2005 as a remote distributed team. The company was incorporated that year, and the first SDK release, version 0.3, came out the same year. An office in Tomsk, Russia, followed in 2006. The company lists Denis Shergin as its CEO and founder.[1]

Stereo 3D support arrived in 2007, the year of the first benchmark, Sanctuary. Support for very large worlds with 64-bit coordinate precision and multi-channel rendering over a network followed in 2011. In 2012 the company shifted its focus toward the simulation and training industry. Its timeline records VR headset support in 2013, starting with early Oculus Rift prototypes, along with projection onto curved screens using image warping and edge blending. The specialized Sim SDK launched in 2014.[1]

UNIGINE 2.0 was released on October 10, 2015. Besides moving to physically based rendering with fully deferred rendering by default, the release improved support for the Oculus Rift DK2, added support for ARTTRACK optical motion tracking, Perception Neuron sensors, the Kinect 2 sensor and the VRPN protocol for VR peripherals such as trackers and flysticks, and improved support for quad-buffered stereo and CAVE setups.[7] In 2016 a UNIGINE visualization of the International Space Station for spacewalk training was demonstrated at NASA's VR laboratory in Houston.[1][8] The SSRTGI (screen-space ray-traced global illumination) lighting technique was introduced in 2017.[1] In an 80 Level interview, UNIGINE lead 3D artist Davyd Vidiger said it had been shown at the SIGGRAPH Real-Time Live! show that year.[9]

The company's timeline places its headquarters in Clemency, Luxembourg, in 2018. It introduced its image generator product, UNIGINE IG, in 2019 and launched the free Community SDK in 2020.[1] As of October 2026, its contact page lists UNIGINE Interactive FZ LLC in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, as the headquarters. It also lists an EU office, UNIGINE Holding S.à r.l., in Clemency, and an R&D center, UNIGINE GLOBAL LLC, in Yerevan, Armenia.[10] The company states that more than 250 companies use the engine.[11]

XR-related releases

Version Date XR and display changes
2.0 October 10, 2015 Improved Oculus Rift DK2 support; ARTTRACK, Perception Neuron, Kinect 2 and VRPN input; improved quad-buffered stereo and CAVE support[7]
2.19 August 16, 2024 Baseline OpenXR support, added alongside OpenVR; at launch CG Channel reported basic headset and controller support, with eye and hand tracking planned for later updates[12][13]
2.19.1 December 13, 2024 NVIDIA DLSS 3 and AMD FSR 2.2 upscalers made available in VR; OpenXR hand tracking and Linux support[14][15]
2.20 July 10, 2025 Eye tracking and foveated rendering for headsets such as Varjo models and the Meta Quest Pro; mixed reality passthrough; stereo rendering optimizations; hand tracking integration; HMD emulation for desktop testing without a headset; input mapping, controller model and spatial anchor improvements[16]
2.21 March 30, 2026 Project templates including maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) scenarios in VR; new Entertainment and Academic Research SDK editions[17]
2.22 September 10, 2026 New VR Multiplayer project template; dynamic resolution scaling with VR support[6]

Features

Engine

The SDK provides C++, C# and UnigineScript APIs, a visual scene editor, a dynamic terrain system, atmosphere and volumetric clouds, a geometry water system, and import of formats including FBX, glTF/GLB, USD and Gaussian splatting data.[18] Object coordinates can use 64-bit double precision instead of 32-bit floats. The documentation says float precision errors become noticeable on scenes larger than about 10 by 10 km, and that double precision lets maximum coordinate values be 536,870,912 times larger.[19] The published system requirements list Windows and Linux, with DirectX 12 or Vulkan 1.3 on Windows and Vulkan 1.3 on Linux. The high-end tier is described as suited to "VR at high resolution and refresh rate".[20]

VR backends

The VR API is hardware-agnostic, and the backend is chosen when the application starts with the -vr_app option (openxr, varjo or openvr). By default VR is not initialized. The documentation recommends OpenXR for new projects. The Varjo backend exposes the full Varjo feature set and needs Varjo Base plus SteamVR for controller and tracker input. OpenVR is kept because it is the only backend with access to trackers, render models and base stations.[5]

Feature OpenXR Varjo OpenVR
Eye tracking Yes Yes No
Hand tracking Yes Yes (through the Ultraleap plugin) No
Mixed reality (camera passthrough) Yes Yes No
Foveated rendering Yes Yes No
Motion prediction No Yes No
Object markers No Yes No
Trackers No No Yes
Base stations No No Yes
Render models No No Yes

Source: UNIGINE VR documentation.[5]

UNIGINE says the following headsets are regularly tested: Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest Pro, Oculus Rift and Oculus Rift S; HTC Vive, HTC Vive Pro, Vive Focus, Vive Cosmos and Vive XR Elite; Varjo VR-1, VR-2, VR-3, XR-3 and XR-4; and the PICO 4. Other OpenXR or OpenVR headsets are expected to work, with features varying by device.[5] Varjo's software integrations page lists UNIGINE, with a quote from Shergin: "Varjo headsets provide both great resolution and eye tracking, both of which are required in demanding industrial applications."[21]

Mixed reality blends the headset's camera feed with the virtual scene. It works through the OpenXR backend on devices with passthrough cameras, such as the Quest 3, and through the Varjo backend, which adds chroma keying, camera controls, color correction and tracked object markers. The documentation notes that the mixed reality functionality of the VR Template is not available in the free Community edition.[5][22]

The VR Template, in C++ and C#, is a starter project with grabbing and throwing, buttons, drawers, locomotion and other common interactions.[5] The VR Multiplayer C++ template added in 2.22 builds on it with Steam Networking. Players on OpenXR, OpenVR or Varjo headsets can share a session with keyboard-and-mouse desktop players, and the template includes proximity voice chat and a sample deathmatch.[23]

Stereo displays, projection and CAVE

Besides headsets, the engine offers stereo rendering modes for other displays: separate images for each eye (for HMDs and 3D video glasses), anaglyph, interlaced lines for polarized monitors, and side-by-side or top-and-bottom split stereo for displays such as glasses-free 3D screens. Stereo pairs use an off-axis, asymmetric-frustum parallel-axis projection, which the documentation says avoids vertical parallax.[2]

The SpiderVision plugin renders into multiple windows for multi-screen walls, CAVE systems and multi-projector setups. It provides edge blending, non-linear image mapping and per-projection color correction, and it reads calibration files from Scalable Display's EasyBlend.[3] The Syncker plugin synchronizes rendering across a cluster of networked computers, which may run Windows and Linux at the same time, to form one seamless display.[24] The image generator (IG) template, which is not part of the Community edition, renders out-the-window and sensor channels for simulators. It can be driven through the CIGI, DIS or HLA protocols, and an IG Control Panel deploys it across the machines of a multi-projector or CAVE setup.[4]

Editions and licensing

As of October 2026 the SDK is sold as annual subscriptions, with prices in US dollars:[18]

Edition Price Intended users and limits
Community Free Free Hobbyists, small indie teams and students; revenue and/or total funding below $200,000 in the preceding 12 months; excludes defense, energy, mining and gambling
Entertainment $9,995 per year (10 seats) Commercial studios in creative, visualization, entertainment and XR industries; no revenue limit; same industry exclusions
Academic Research $15,595 per year (10 seats); $25,995 (30 seats) University research projects; non-commercial use only
Sim On request Enterprise simulators, AI learning and verification, GIS, BIM, CAD, smart city and digital twin projects

The Entertainment and Academic Research editions were introduced with version 2.21 in March 2026.[17] At the time of 2.19 in August 2024, CG Channel reported a Community Free edition capped at $100,000 in annual revenue or funding and a Community Pro subscription at $1,500 per year.[13]

Benchmarks

UNIGINE uses its engine to build PC hardware benchmarks for testing GPU, CPU, power supply and cooling stability under load and for overclocking.[25][1]

Benchmark Year Notes
Sanctuary 2007 First UNIGINE benchmark; now listed as legacy[1][25][26]
Tropics 2008 Listed as legacy[1][26]
Heaven 2009 DirectX 9, DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.0; stereo 3D and multi-monitor support; current version 4.0 (2013)[27]
Valley 2013 Stereo 3D and multi-monitor support; current version 1.0 (2013)[28]
Superposition 2017 Built on UNIGINE 2; VR mode for Oculus and SteamVR headsets; current version 1.1 (2019)[26]

Superposition was released in April 2017. Tom's Hardware reported that it included a "VR Ready?" test with presets for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Selecting the Vive set the output to 1512 x 1680, the Rift to 1332 x 1586, and a custom resolution option allowed testing for future headsets. The Advanced edition added an interactive VR version of the benchmark's laboratory scene.[29] UNIGINE's product page lists the HTC Vive Pro, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and SteamVR-compatible HMDs as supported headsets, and lists over 900 interactive objects among its features.[26]

Uses in VR and simulation

UNIGINE's public portfolio includes several VR projects. One is a real-time model of the International Space Station for spacewalk spatial-awareness training, with desktop and Oculus Rift versions on UNIGINE 2 Sim, which was demonstrated at NASA's VR lab in Houston in 2016. Another is an oil refinery digital twin with VR maintenance-training scenarios in desktop and Oculus Rift / HTC Vive Pro versions.[8]

In 2019 the Zurich-based start-up Daedalean, which develops autopilot software, selected UNIGINE as the base of the simulated environment it uses to train and test neural networks for vision-based flight control. The announcement cited the engine's support for multi-projector and dome setups and for VR headsets, including the Varjo VR-1.[11][30] Other customers named by the company include IPG Automotive (CarMaker virtual test driving), VSTEP (NAUTIS maritime simulators) and Arisnova (NAVANTIS naval simulator).[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "About". UNIGINE. https://unigine.com/en/company/about/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Stereo Rendering". UNIGINE documentation (ai-docs repository, GitHub). UNIGINE. https://github.com/unigine-engine/ai-docs/blob/main/ai_docs/md_docs/principles/render/output/stereo/index.md. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Multi-Monitor & Projection Rendering With SpiderVision Plugin". UNIGINE documentation (ai-docs repository, GitHub). UNIGINE. https://github.com/unigine-engine/ai-docs/blob/main/ai_docs/md_docs/principles/render/output/multi_monitor/spidervision_plugin/index.md. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "IG Application Template". UNIGINE documentation (ai-docs repository, GitHub). UNIGINE. https://github.com/unigine-engine/ai-docs/blob/main/ai_docs/md_docs/ig/index.md. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 "VR & XR Development". UNIGINE documentation (ai-docs repository, GitHub). UNIGINE. https://github.com/unigine-engine/ai-docs/blob/main/ai_docs/md_docs/vr_development/index.md. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "UNIGINE SDK 2.22 Release". UNIGINE. 2026-09-10. https://unigine.com/news/2026/unigine-sdk-2-22-release/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "UNIGINE SDK 2.0". UNIGINE. 2015-10-10. https://unigine.com/news/2015/unigine-sdk-2-0. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "3D/VR Apps for Business". UNIGINE. https://solutions.unigine.com/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  9. ↑ Kirill Tokarev (2017-10-31). "SSRTGI: Toughest Challenge in Real-Time 3D". 80 Level. https://80.lv/articles/ssrtgi-toughest-challenge-in-real-time-3d/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  10. ↑ "Contacts". UNIGINE. https://unigine.com/en/company/contacts/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Customers". UNIGINE. https://unigine.com/en/company/customers/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  12. ↑ "UNIGINE SDK 2.19 Release". UNIGINE. 2024-08-16. https://unigine.com/news/2024/unigine-sdk-2-19-release/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Jim Thacker (2024-08-20). "Check out the new features in Unigine 2.19". CG Channel. https://www.cgchannel.com/2024/08/check-out-the-new-features-in-unigine-2-19/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  14. ↑ "UNIGINE SDK 2.19.1 Release". UNIGINE. 2024-12-13. https://unigine.com/news/2024/unigine-sdk-2-19-1-release/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  15. ↑ Ryan Daws (2024-12-16). "UNIGINE 2.19.1 boosts photorealism, VR upscaling, and more". Developer Tech. https://www.developer-tech.com/news/unigine-2-19-1-boosts-photorealism-vr-upscaling-and-more/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  16. ↑ "UNIGINE SDK 2.20 Release". UNIGINE. 2025-07-10. https://unigine.com/news/2025/unigine-sdk-2-20-release/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "UNIGINE SDK 2.21 Release". UNIGINE. 2026-03-30. https://unigine.com/news/2026/unigine-sdk-2-21-released-new-animation-system-ai-ready-workflow-and-major-performance-gains/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "SDK Editions And Pricing". UNIGINE. https://unigine.com/get-unigine/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  19. ↑ "Double Precision Coordinates". UNIGINE documentation (ai-docs repository, GitHub). UNIGINE. https://github.com/unigine-engine/ai-docs/blob/main/ai_docs/md_docs/code/double_precision/index.md. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  20. ↑ "System Requirements". UNIGINE documentation (ai-docs repository, GitHub). UNIGINE. https://github.com/unigine-engine/ai-docs/blob/main/ai_docs/md_docs/start/requirements.md. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  21. ↑ "Software integrations". Varjo. https://varjo.com/software-integrations. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  22. ↑ "Mixed Reality". UNIGINE documentation (ai-docs repository, GitHub). UNIGINE. https://github.com/unigine-engine/ai-docs/blob/main/ai_docs/md_docs/vr_development/vr_template/vr_template_mixed_reality/index.md. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  23. ↑ "VR Multiplayer C++ Template". UNIGINE documentation (ai-docs repository, GitHub). UNIGINE. https://github.com/unigine-engine/ai-docs/blob/main/ai_docs/md_docs/sdk/templates/vr_multiplayer/index.md. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  24. ↑ "Syncker Plugin". UNIGINE documentation (ai-docs repository, GitHub). UNIGINE. https://github.com/unigine-engine/ai-docs/blob/main/ai_docs/md_docs/code/plugins/syncker/index.md. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "UNIGINE Benchmarks". UNIGINE. https://benchmark.unigine.com/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 "Superposition benchmark". UNIGINE Benchmarks. https://benchmark.unigine.com/superposition. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  27. ↑ "Heaven benchmark". UNIGINE Benchmarks. https://benchmark.unigine.com/heaven. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  28. ↑ "Valley benchmark". UNIGINE Benchmarks. https://benchmark.unigine.com/valley. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  29. ↑ Kevin Carbotte (2017-04-11). "Unigine Releases Superposition Graphics Benchmark With 8K, VR Tests". Tom's Hardware. https://www.tomshardware.com/news/unigine-superposition-graphics-benchmark-test,34121.html. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  30. ↑ "Daedalean chooses UNIGINE 3D engine virtual environment to test and train its neural networks for autonomous flight". Airframer. 2019-08-29. https://www.airframer.com/news_story.html?release=71637. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
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