ScummVM 2026.4.0 is now available. The new version of the veteran open-source project adds 194 games newly supported and 12 new engines, in addition to improvements and fixes distributed across 17 other existing engines. The release carries the codename «Never-slop» and coincides with the 25th anniversary of the project, whose first public commit dates back to late September 2001.
Twelve New Engines and a Catalog Featuring Spanish Titles
The bulk of the novelty lies in the engines being incorporated for the first time, and among the titles unlocked there is a very marked Spanish presence. The release adds nine Mortadelo and Filemón adventures, from Una Aventura de Cine Edición Original to Mamelucos a la Romana, passing through La Sexta Secta, Operación Moscú or El Escarabajo de Cleopatra.
Alongside them come classics that many players had been asking for for years. In the field of graphical adventure, stand out Dracula: Resurrection and Dracula 2: The Last Sanctuary, Amerzone: The Explorer’s Legacy, The Cameron Files: The Secret at Loch Ness, Return of the Phantom or Dragonsphere. Also appear the two installments of Star Wars: Rebel Assault, six titles from the Nancy Drew series, the sagas Shadows on the Vatican and Reversion, and gems such as Dungeon Master, Harvester, The Fool’s Errand and Eagle Eye Mysteries.
To that list are added more than 140 games from the Wintermute engine, which are now covered generically, explaining much of the jump in the final count.
What is ScummVM (and what it isn’t)
It is worth clarifying the nuance that separates ScummVM from a standard console emulator: it does not recreate the hardware of an old computer, but rather reimplements the original engines that drove each game. The program reads the original files — graphics, sounds, and scripts — and handles everything necessary for them to run on modern hardware.
The practical consequence is twofold. On one hand, it allows reviving titles such as Monkey Island, Broken Sword or Day of the Tentacle without depending on their original software. On the other, ScummVM does not include the games: you need to have the files for a supported title in order to run it.
Internal Improvements and Port Status
Beyond the catalog, the version brings behind-the-scenes work that is noticeable in daily use. The Event Recorder improves, sound mixing speeds up thanks to a faster emulator of the OPL3 AdLib chip, and support for an additional installer type is added, which facilitates launching games without running their original installation.
The review of improved engines leaves concrete details: Sanitarium corrects its step sounds, Another World gains compatibility with big-endian systems, the GLK engine adds some ZX Spectrum games and the Hopkins engine finally completes its shooting minigame. The Kyra engine incorporates automaps in EOB games and accepts fan translations to Korean for Legend of Kyrandia; an old pathfinding problem is fixed in Lure of the Temptress and several bugs in Riddle of Master Lu, while Might and Magic receives quality-of-life improvements and hang fixes. The SCUMM engine also advances in compatibility with its C64 titles and early Windows HE versions. The full changelog is in the version notes.
As for platforms, the port compilation will arrive shortly and for now the Windows, macOS (including PowerPC) and Dreamcast, Haiku and OpenDingux versions are available. The Atari port, on its part, incorporates optional integration with the nFM sound library.
What Can Be Played Today
The current state is the best the project has had in a long time: almost 200 new titles enter all at once and dozens of already supported engines receive precision adjustments. The fine print is always the same —the availability of each build depends on packages arriving to each platform, and it is advisable to check the specific title against the compatibility list before taking it for granted—, but the preservation work behind it is hard to dispute.
