Delivering a Destruction Spectacle in VOID/BREAKER
with Havok Physics for Unreal

Havok Physics for Unreal seamlessly integrates Havok’s industry leading physics simulation into the Unreal Engine empowering developers to push the boundaries of what is possible in games. This drop-in solution delivers world class destruction, robust high-performance simulation, and an easy to maintain workflow. Fully compatible with Unreal’s existing systems, including Blueprints, it brings over 25 years of physics innovation straight into the engine with minimal setup.

When Stubby Games set out to build VOID/BREAKER, they envisioned a truly “chaotic destruction spectacle”. This experience demanded exceptional performance, reliable simulation, and tools that were both powerful and easy to adopt.

VOID/BREAKER is an adrenaline-fueled FPS roguelite that launched into Early Access on 19 August 2025 for PC and PC Game Pass, with a full console release planned for 2026. Players fight relentless machine hordes driven by a hostile AI, crafting infinite weapon variants and carving through immersive, destructible environments as they battle to break free.

With that vision in mind, Stubby Games turned to Havok Physics for Unreal to deliver high-impact destruction and fast, robust simulation for all supported platforms. As a small team, ease of use and minimal integration overhead was essential to the success of the project.

We sat down with the team to talk about how Havok Physics supported their development, what surprised them most about the integration, and how it shaped the game’s signature feel.

What made you reach out to Havok?

Daniel Stubbington aka Stubby Games: I initially approached Havok to explore whether Havok Physics for Unreal could help drive more destruction in VOID/BREAKER. The scope of the destruction in VOID/BREAKER was set to be huge. But these big ambitions required improved performance.

After asking around to some friends in the industry, one pointed me to Havok. Knowing Havok by name from their physics engine utilization on previous titles, I reached out.

After some wonderful and prospectful talks with Andy Payne and Steve Ewart, Havok Physics was integrated into VOID/BREAKER.

VOID/BREAKER uses the provided Havok Physics for Unreal integration, how did you find that overall experience? 

Stubbington: Integrating Havok into the existing Unreal Engine project was a breeze. I was surprised at how easy it was to get up and running with minimal hiccups.

The first playtest with Havok enabled was nothing short of transformative. Performance was fantastic, frame times shortened, and physics reached a new level of precision and realism. I was able to deliver the chaotic destruction spectacle I had envisioned from the start. Havok didn’t just improve the game but elevated it to new heights.

Can you tell us a bit more about how using Havok Physics for Unreal impacted your development experience? And what it empowered you to achieve?

Stubbington: The main advantages I gained from Havok were performance, stability and reliability. VOID/BREAKER thrives on unpredictable, fast combat encounters. Throw a fully destructible environment in the mix, and it becomes very important that the physics engine needs to keep up. Havok had no issues here.

With a AAA engine like Havok, you can push the engine hard, throw dozens of physics-driven objects into an explosion and it still behaves consistently and reliably.

Beyond the great performance and robust simulation, is there anything you found particularly helpful?

Stubbington: Havok had an array of useful additional tech that meant I was able to expand the scope of the environmental destruction even further.

The Havok Niagara plugin allowed for convex collision particles within the FX system. Perfect for destruction debris.

Havok’s new physics entanglement modifier also came in handy, which slowly separates tangled physics bodies. This really helped the destructible buildings in VOID/BREAKER, which are made up of modular pieces.

The Havok Visual Debugger was excellent in keeping track of physics bodies in the scene, with a very easy to use interface that integrates directly with unreal.

VOID/BREAKER is available on Steam now for PC and PC Game Pass, with a full console release planned for 2026.

VOID/BREAKER HARD RESET Major Update was released on February 17^th.