Snowdrop (also known as Ubisoft Snowdrop) is a proprietary

game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games which generally includes relevant libraries and support programs such as a level editor. The "engine" terminology is akin to the term " software engine" u ...

created by

Massive Entertainment Massive Entertainment AB is a Swedish video game developer and a studio of Ubisoft based in Malmö. The company has been fully owned by Ubisoft since 2008. The studio is known for ''Tom Clancy's The Division'', '' The Division 2'', '' Ground Co ...

and

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...

for use on

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

Nintendo Switch 2 The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo, released in most regions on June5, 2025. Like the original Nintendo Switch, Switch, it can be used as a Handheld game console, handheld, as a Tablet computer, tablet, or connected via ...

, Stadia, and

Luna Luna commonly refers to: * Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin, Spanish and other languages * Luna (goddess) In Sabine and ancient Roman religion and myth, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon (Latin ''Lūna'' ). She is often presented as t ...

. It was revealed at

E3 2013 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2013 (E3 2013) was the 19th E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California, with many press conferences taking place at nearby venues including the Microsoft Theate ...

with ''

Tom Clancy's The Division ''Tom Clancy's The Division'' is a 2016 online-only action role-playing video game developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. It was released on 8 March for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is set in a near ...

'', the first game using the engine. Snowdrop is one of the primary game engines used by Ubisoft along with

Disrupt Disrupt was an American crust punk band from Lynn, Massachusetts, that was active from 1987 to 1993. History The band's initial lineup was Jay Stiles and Pete Kamarinos (vocals), Chris Drake (guitar), Harry Haralabatos (drums), Tony Leone ...

, Dunia, and Ubisoft Anvil.

History

The engine is coded mainly in C++. Rodrigo Cortes, former brand art director at

, said that development on the Snowdrop engine started in 2009. Initially it was an engine built for PC and next-gen development to "do things better not bigger". The core of the game engine is powered by a "node-based system" and the engine is a dynamic, interconnected and flexible system where developers can create their assets quickly and interact with them in ways that have never been done before. Massive created a lighting and destruction system inspired by film production techniques. Features of Snowdrop include advanced

physically based rendering Physically based rendering (PBR) is a computer graphics approach that seeks to render images in a way that models the lights and surfaces with optics in the real world. It is often referred to as "Physically Based Lighting" or "Physically Based ...

(PBR), procedural destruction, and a dynamic

global illumination Global illumination (GI), or indirect illumination, is a group of algorithms used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aest ...

system. According to the developers, the engine was designed with three pillars: Empowerment, which allows animators, artists and designers to get their work done quicker, Real Time, which allows developers to implement and iterate quickly and Fun, a concept that applies not only to the final product, but to using the engine during development. An improved version of the engine was used for '' Tom Clancy's The Division 2''. In February 2016, Massive confirmed that the engine can be used for other Ubisoft games. According to Martin Hultberg, head of IP at Ubisoft Massive, Snowdrop became available to all Ubisoft studios and not just those working on the '' Tom Clancy's'' IP. These games include '' South Park: The Fractured but Whole'', '' Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle'', and '' Starlink: Battle for Atlas''. In June 2021, Ubisoft confirmed that the engine will be upgraded for '' Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora''. According to senior technical artist Kunal Luthra, thousands of assets can be propagated inside of each frame to create more highly detailed environments. The engine would also support real-time ray tracing, unified volumetric rendering, as well as improved AI behavior for

NPCs A non-player character (NPC) is a character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster (or referee) rather than by a ...

. Snowdrop was used for '' Star Wars Outlaws'', which features RTX Direct Illumination and DLSS Ray Reconstruction. Massive developed its own digital "camera lens" in Snowdrop, which was used to give the game a more cinematic presentation as an option. The remake of ''

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell ''Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell'' is a series of stealth action-adventure video games, the first of which was released in 2002, and their tie-in novels that were endorsed by Tom Clancy. The series follows Sam Fisher, a highly trained agent of a ...

'' will also use Snowdrop. Ubisoft announced they will continue to upscale and develop the engine.

Features

Features of Snowdrop include: * Node-based scripting system * Realistic day and night change * Global volumetric lighting * Procedural destruction * 'Advanced' particle system and visual effects * Dynamic material shader * Live stat tracking

History

Features

Games using Snowdrop

Cancelled

References