More mobile platforms means more complexity for developers and that means more opportunity for middleware companies to fill in the gaps.

It's good timing from SIO Interactive then, as it's just launched the second version of its SIO2 mobile game engine.

Full suite

Handling iOS, with Android, webOS, bada and MeeGo to follow, it's a C/C++ engine, supporting OpenGL ES graphics and with all its APIs also available through Lua scripts.

Other functionality includes collision detection, rigid and soft body physics and constraints using the Bullet physics engine, pathfinding for AI, networking, OpenAL audio support, skeleton animation, and advanced materials and lighting features.

Development can be carried out on Windows or Mac, and the 2.0 version features a completely new core API that's reckoned to be twice as fast as the previous version.

Open play

SIO2 hooks into the usual industry 3D art packages, and you can mix your code with other existing OpenGL ES modules or libraries you already possess, allowing you to re-use existing code with the SIO2 framework.

The SDK is available as a free download, with commercial licences starting from $365 per seat. There are also additional options for access to source code, and you can get the legacy versions of the engine for free.

Tutorials, assets, documentation and sample code, including full source for two games is provided.

You can find out much more about the engine from its website.