Ren'Py 8.6.1 "Real Artists Ship"

is a prerelease, last updated on November 15, 2026. The main downloads of Ren'Py 8.6.1 are:

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You only need to download one of these files. Each contains the full Ren'Py software development kit, with everything needed to develop Ren'Py games for the Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms; the Ren'Py tutorial; and "The Question", an example game.

Ren'Py is free to download and use for commercial and non-commercial purposes. It may be modified and distributed under the terms of its license.

Additional Downloads. When necessary, the Ren'Py SDK will automatically download additional packages, such as text editors and Android/iOS support. These packages are available for direct download at the bottom of this page.

Release History

Ren'Py 8.6.1 prerelease

• Fixed downloading Visual Studio Code from the launcher by ensuring that the public key the downloader signatures rely on is properly supported. (#7522)

Ren'Py 8.6.0 November 14, 2026

• Initial release of Ren'Py 8.6.

Announcement

I'd like to announce Ren'Py 8.6.1, a fix release of Ren'Py 8.6. This fixes a single issue with downloading Visual Studio Code from the launcher.

The major features and improvements in Ren'Py 8.6 include:

SDL3. Perhaps the biggest change in Ren'Py 8.6 is the move to SDL3, the newest version of the Simple DirectMedia Layer library, which provides low-level access to audio, keyboard, mouse, controller and graphics hardware. SDL3 is where new platform support is being developed, so this lets Ren'Py take advantage of new hardware and operating systems. It also brings high-DPI support on Windows and support for the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller.

Performance. Ren'Py's prediction system has been rewritten to use Python coroutines, which are small functions that can be interrupted in the middle, so prediction can be split into chunks that fit inside a single frame. Ren'Py 8.6 eliminates the need to design pauses into your animation to allow prediction, as prediction can now occur seamlessly as animations play. Images are decoded on multiple threads, texture uploads are spread across frames, redundant drawing work is skipped, and shaders are compiled ahead of time and cached across launches.

Accessibility. A new screen reader mode, toggled with Shift+V, uses the Prism library to talk directly to screen readers like NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver, and Orca, presenting the game's text through speech and braille displays. It turns on automatically when a screen reader is running. Self-voicing can now use any voice installed on the user's system, at an adjustable speed.

Shaders. Shader parts can now be written in GLSL ES 3.00, the default for new games. Existing shaders don't need to change, as Ren'Py translates between versions automatically, and parts written in either version can be combined.

Live2D. Ren'Py's Live2D support has been updated to support the blend modes and offscreen drawing of Cubism 5.3. Ren'Py also now supports Live2D physics and pose files, allowing for more dynamic and expressive character animations.

Other new features include:

• On Windows, Ren'Py draws input method candidate lists itself, so they're visible in fullscreen games.
• Warping to a line now replays the dialogue along the way, rebuilding the history, NVL-mode text, and speech bubbles.
• Automated tests can be selected with wildcards and parameters, and more test statements accept expressions.
• New clipboard functions allow games to work with text, data, and images on the system clipboard. Screenshots are automatically copied to the clipboard.
• The new renpy.get_user_age function reports the user's age range on Android and iOS devices that support it.
• Ren'Py supports wavedash.com, a platform and marketplace for web-based games, and the launcher can upload to it directly.
• Different languages can be set for strings and files, so you could have one language for text, another for audio, and yet another for images.
• It's now possible to seek in music, and loop in movies.
• It's now possible to specify more than one directory to search for images, audio, and/or fonts.
• Font sizes can be adjusted per-font, without editing the font files.
• Files created when a new project is made are now dedicated to the public domain.

There are also dozens of other features and fixes, please refer to the full changelog for a complete list.

Ren'Py 8.6 raises some system requirements. iOS games now require iOS 15 or later, up from iOS 13, and macOS games now require macOS 10.13 or later, up from macOS 10.10. On Android, iOS, and the web, Ren'Py now requires a GPU that supports OpenGL ES 3.0, which most devices with a GPU from 2013 or later have. Desktop requirements are unchanged: Ren'Py uses OpenGL 3.3 when it's available, and falls back to OpenGL 2.0. The new Live2D features require Cubism SDK for Native 5-r.5 or later, but older versions continue to work without them.

Ren'Py 8.6 is the next step in our goal of providing tools that enable human creativity in the form of visual novels and similar styles of games. I'm proud to announce that more people than ever have contributed to this release of Ren'Py. Thanks to everyone that has contributed to this release, and to those of you who will create with it.

Downloads of Ren'Py 8.6.1 can be found at:

https://www.renpy.org/release/8.6.1

A full list of changes to Ren'Py can be found at:

https://www.renpy.org/dev-doc/html/changelog.html

A list of changes that may require you to update your game can be found at:

https://www.renpy.org/dev-doc/html/incompatible.html

Problems with Ren'Py can be reported at the Ren'Py issue tracker:

https://github.com/renpy/renpy/issues

Please also check out the credits and list of sponsors.

Credits

Ren'Py 8.6.1 is brought to you by:

everyone who's tested this release, and myself, Tom "Renpytom" Rothamel.

Editor Downloads

When first asked to edit a file, the Ren'Py launcher will prompt you to download and install an editor. As this may fail if your Internet connection is unreliable, the editors can be downloaded separately. To install, extract the contents of the editor archive to the Ren'Py directory.

VS Code: Editor, Ren'Py Language extension.

To use a VS Code installed outside Ren'Py, select the "Visual Studio Code (System)" editor.

Android and iOS Support

When building Android packages, iOS packages, or web distributions, Ren'Py will prompt you to download RAPT (Ren'Py Android Packaging Tool), Renios (Ren'Py iOS Support), or Renpyweb (Web Platform Support). As these downloads may fail if your Internet connection is unreliable, these packages can be downloaded separately. To install, extract the contents of the archive to the Ren'Py directory. (Place the "rapt", "renios", or "web" directory into the "renpy-8.6.1" directory.)

Android Support (RAPT): renpy-8.6.1-rapt.zip

iOS Support (Renios): renpy-8.6.1-renios.zip

Web Platform Support (Renpyweb): renpy-8.6.1-web.zip

Additional Downloads

Ren'Py Source Code: renpy-8.6.1-source.tar.bz2

Contains the source code of the Ren'Py distribution without any binary components.

Other Dependencies: https://www.renpy.org/dev-doc/html/license.html

Ren'Py contains free software licensed under a number of licenses, including the GNU Lesser General Public License. A full list of software and links to git repositories from which the software can be downloaded is linked above.

We also maintain a complete list of releases.