# ValveSoftware/steam-audio

Steam Audio

Repository: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-audio
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/steam-audio
Homepage: https://valvesoftware.github.io/steam-audio/
Language: C++
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: vr, spatial-audio, steam-audio
Last push: 2026-03-25T17:13:21+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 69/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 74, release rhythm 46, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3506, "days_push": 161, "days_rel": 203, "gap_med": 110.5, "n_releases_24m": 5}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2904, forks 249 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:28.982617+00:00)

## What it is
Steam Audio is Valve's open-source spatial audio SDK providing physics-based sound propagation, occlusion, reflection, reverb, and HRTF-based binaural 3D audio for games and VR. It ships as a C++ core library with integrations for Unity, Unreal Engine, FMOD Studio, and Wwise across desktop and mobile platforms.

## Use cases
- add spatial audio to a Unity game
- render HRTF binaural 3D sound in VR
- simulate sound occlusion and reverb from scene geometry
- integrate physics-based sound propagation into Unreal Engine
- add immersive audio to an FMOD or Wwise project
- build low-latency 3D audio for mobile VR apps

## When to choose
- you need end-to-end spatial audio with propagation, occlusion, and reverb in a game or VR app
- you use Unity, Unreal, FMOD, or Wwise and want a free Apache-2.0 audio SDK
- you need cross-platform support including Android and iOS
- accurate HRTF-based binaural rendering matters for VR immersion

## When to avoid
- you need a full audio engine rather than a spatialization middleware
- your project targets platforms outside Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, or iOS
- you want a purely handcrafted non-physical audio pipeline with no simulation

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: audio-processing, sdk, plugin-system, simulation
- domain: graphics, cross-platform
- platform: windows, cpp, game-engine
- tags: spatial-audio, hrtf, vr, 3d-audio, sound-propagation, unity, unreal-engine, fmod, wwise, game-development, audio, linux, macos, android, ios

## Member repositories
- ValveSoftware/steam-audio (main) score 69

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:28.982617+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:34:31.267763+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-audio (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:28.982617+00:00, sha ac5cfcdbd68c)
  - homepage: https://valvesoftware.github.io/steam-audio/ (fetched 2026-08-29T09:49:43.725135+00:00, sha 514f0c75779a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.