The Open 3D Foundation has released version 25.10.0 of its open-source 3D engine, O3DE. This October 2025 update focuses on engineering stability, build performance, and developer quality-of-life rather than visual feature expansion. The release signals a steady maturation of the engine’s toolchain, with many improvements hidden beneath the surface but significant in day-to-day use.
What’s New in 25.10
O3DE 25.10 introduces a re-engineered installation and build process. The installers have been reduced in size, roughly 26 percent smaller on Windows and about 40 percent smaller on Linux. Dependency handling and installer feedback have been streamlined, making fresh installations and version upgrades less painful. Debug and iteration performance has also improved; the foundation reports faster build times and reduced editor memory consumption, with internal testing showing up to a 50 percent cut in memory use during editing sessions.
The release officially adopts the C++20 language standard, allowing cleaner, modernised engine extensions and plug-in development. While this is mostly relevant for technical directors and engine programmers, it marks an important step toward modern C++ compliance across the toolchain.
Simulation and robotics workflows have also been refined. The ROS2 Gem, central to robotics and simulation integration, has been refactored to improve modularity and separate non-core components. This makes it easier for teams building simulation or automation pipelines to manage dependencies without compiling unnecessary subsystems.
Platform support continues to expand, with improved Vulkan handling and stronger Linux compatibility. Masked occlusion culling now works correctly under Linux, and the OpenXR Gem has been re-enabled, restoring virtual-reality and mixed-reality capabilities on that platform.
Behind the scenes, the build system has undergone a notable overhaul. O3DE’s automated review workflows have migrated from Jenkins to GitHub Actions, providing faster continuous-integration cycles and simplified caching. Build-target management has been restructured to improve consistency across Windows, Linux and macOS.
The modular improvements to simulation components and the ROS2 Gem will be useful for developers, as they simplify integration with external systems and reduce build complexity. Vulkan and Linux fixes strengthen O3DE’s cross-platform credentials, making it more viable for studios using Linux workstations or cloud build servers.
No new rendering systems or visual-effects features have been added in this release, however. The focus remains on stability, build-system efficiency and maintainability: vital for production, but less visible to artists.
Cautions Before Production Use
While O3DE 25.10 is a milestone release, it remains primarily an engineering update. Teams planning migration should note that earlier 25.05 release notes already flagged breaking changes in material-shader APIs and ray-tracing descriptors, now implemented in 25.10. Existing pipelines may require adjustments to remain compatible. As always with open-source engines under active development, studios are advised to test new builds extensively before deployment in production environments.
