OpenSWOS, the open-source SWOS engine

OpenSWOS is a rewrite of the SWOS 96/97 engine in C. It is not an emulator, and it does not include the graphics, music, or teams. The readme, the install notes, and the itch.io page all say the same thing: bring your own 96/97 copy. Those three pages are one author's channel. Indie Retro News is the separate article.

Last checked: 2026-10-30

OpenSWOS engine code and separately owned SWOS game data have separate rights and requirements — Original site diagram; schematic, not a game screenshot.

What the project claims it can do

The readme lists friendlies, leagues, cups, a 20-year career, transfers, online play with rollback, full-match replay, widescreen, a CRT look, pads, two players at one machine, DOS or Amiga graphics, optional Jaguar sprites, optional SWOS 2020 pitches, and an arcade mode. Platforms named in the install notes: Windows 10 or newer, macOS on Apple silicon or Intel, Linux from 2021 onward, Raspberry Pi 4 or 5, an AGA Amiga (A1200 or A4000, 68020 or better, 8MB fast RAM), and a browser build.

The itch.io page showed the build string 824aff0f on 30 October 2026. GitHub has no releases. The repository was created on 21 October 2026. I will not call that string version 1.0.

The GPL licence on the repository covers the OpenSWOS code. It does not cover SWOS itself. The project is Ben Baker's, and it is not a Codemasters product.

Install, from the project's notes

Windows: run SWOS-Setup.exe. If SmartScreen complains, the notes say More info, then Run anyway. macOS: right-click and choose Open, because Gatekeeper will hesitate. Linux: unpack and run Linux/openswos-setup. Amiga: run the setup on a PC or Mac, pick the Amiga tab, and copy the drawer it builds.

Saves: Documents\SWOS on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/SWOS on macOS, ~/.swos on Linux. The setup reads a local GOG folder when it can find one. It does not download the data.

Questions people ask

Is the browser version a free game?

No. openswos.net has a browser entrance, and it still wants your data. I do not embed it.

Does browser play include online matches?

The notes document a browser build. They do not document rollback inside it. I am not adding that feature.

Who else reported it?

Indie Retro News on 21 October 2026: free, AGA around 42 to 50 frames per second, two ADF disks plus a GOG copy, 20-year career.

Keep going

Sources checked 2026-10-30

OpenSWOS README — checked 2026-10-30
OpenSWOS INSTALL — checked 2026-10-30
openswos.net — checked 2026-10-30
itch.io — checked 2026-10-30
Indie Retro News — checked 2026-10-30