# Snowdrop (game engine)

Snowdrop (also known as Ubisoft Snowdrop) is a proprietary game engine created by Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft for use on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Stadia, and Luna. It was revealed at E3 2013 with Tom Clancy's The Division, the first game using the engine. Snowdrop is one of the primary game engines used by Ubisoft along with Disrupt, Dunia, and Ubisoft Anvil.

## History

The engine is coded mainly in C++. Rodrigo Cortes, former brand art director at Massive Entertainment, 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 (PBR), procedural destruction, and a dynamic global illumination 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.
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 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

## Games using Snowdrop

| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Developer(s) |
| 2016 | Tom Clancy's The Division | PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One | Massive Entertainment |
| 2017 | Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle | Nintendo Switch | Ubisoft Milan |
| 2017 | South Park: The Fractured but Whole | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One | Ubisoft San Francisco |
| 2018 | Starlink: Battle for Atlas | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One | Ubisoft Toronto |
| 2019 | Tom Clancy's The Division 2 | PlayStation 4, Stadia, Windows, Xbox One | Massive Entertainment |
| 2022 | Rabbids: Party of Legends | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Stadia, Windows, Xbox One | Ubisoft Chengdu |
| 2022 | Rocksmith+ | Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows | Ubisoft San Francisco |
| 2022 | Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope | Nintendo Switch | Ubisoft Milan |
| 2023 | The Settlers: New Allies | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S | Ubisoft Düsseldorf |
| 2023 | Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora | PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S | Massive Entertainment |
| 2024 | XDefiant | PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S | Ubisoft San Francisco |
| 2024 | Star Wars Outlaws | PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S | Massive Entertainment |
| — | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell | — | Ubisoft Toronto |

### Cancelled

* Tom Clancy's The Division Heartland