Abuse: 4 Open Source Clones Compared
Abuse (Xenoveritas) is a fork of the original abuse.zoy.org SDL port that switched to CMake and SDL2, but had to drop the bundled fRaBs content and its sound/music files over unclear licensing — those must be sourced separately to restore audio. Abuse 1996 builds on top of that Xenoveritas fork, adding OpenGL rendering, quick save/load, a cheat console, and Xbox 360 controller support, though its own development has since halted. Abuse 2025 continues both of those lineages, aiming to be the modern default way to play the game today.
Comparison table
Availability
- Status
- Playable
- Platforms
- Linux, Windows, OSX
- Play in browser
- No
- Mobile
- No
Project health
- Development status
- Active
- Last updated
- 14d ago
- Stars
- 167
- Contributors
- 5
- Engine
- SDL2
Compatibility
- Modding support
- —
- Multiplayer
- —
Availability
- Status
- Playable
- Platforms
- Windows
- Play in browser
- No
- Mobile
- No
Project health
- Development status
- Halted
- Last updated
- 10y ago
- Stars
- 154
- Contributors
- 2
- Engine
- SDL2
Compatibility
- Modding support
- —
- Multiplayer
- —
Availability
- Status
- Playable
- Platforms
- Linux, Windows, OSX
- Play in browser
- No
- Mobile
- No
Project health
- Development status
- Sporadic
- Last updated
- 6mo ago
- Stars
- 73
- Contributors
- 8
- Engine
- SDL2
Compatibility
- Modding support
- YesSupports custom levels and total conversion mods; users can place custom content in data directories and override default files.
- Multiplayer
- Online, LAN
Availability
- Status
- Playable
- Platforms
- Linux, OSX
- Play in browser
- No
- Mobile
- No
Project health
- Development status
- Not tracked
- Last updated
- Not tracked
- Stars
- Not tracked
- Contributors
- Not tracked
- Engine
- Not tracked
Compatibility
- Modding support
- —
- Multiplayer
- —
| Title | Abuse (Xenoveritas) | Abuse 1996 | Abuse 2025 | Abuse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Status | Playable | Playable | Playable | Playable |
| Platforms | Linux, Windows, OSX | Windows | Linux, Windows, OSX | Linux, OSX |
| Play in browser | No | No | No | No |
| Mobile | No | No | No | No |
| Project health | ||||
| Development status | Active | Halted | Sporadic | Not tracked |
| Last updated | 14d ago | 10y ago | 6mo ago | Not tracked |
| Stars | 167 | 154 | 73 | Not tracked |
| Contributors | 5 | 2 | 8 | Not tracked |
| Engine | SDL2 | SDL2 | SDL2 | Not tracked |
| Compatibility | ||||
| Modding support | — | — | YesSupports custom levels and total conversion mods; users can place custom content in data directories and override default files. | — |
| Multiplayer | — | — | Online, LAN | — |
| Preview | | | |
Known limitations
- rendering: Low rendering speed due to multiple copy operations and format conversions during the rendering pipeline.
- timing: Game is designed to run at 15 FPS; higher or lower framerates speed up or slow down the game.
- multiplayer: Multiplayer between different platforms and on Windows is not currently supported.
Frequently asked questions
Are the Abuse clones on this page open source?
Yes — every clone catalogued here is an open-source project. Availability, license, and development-status details for each one are listed in the comparison table above.
Which Abuse clone is the most actively maintained?
Abuse (Xenoveritas) is currently under active development, based on recent commit activity. See the "Development status" row above for every clone's current status.
See the full write-up for each clone, or go back to Abuse.