What is Waypoint?
Waypoint is the real-time world model family from Overworld, a studio founded by former Stability AI members. Its philosophy runs against the grain of the field: rather than chasing visual fidelity on racks of data-center GPUs, Overworld optimises for low latency and high frame rates on the consumer hardware people already own — no server costs, no unpredictable network lag, and no data leaving your machine.
Waypoint-1.5
Released on April 9, 2026, Waypoint-1.5 is a 1.2-billion-parameter model trained on roughly 100 times more data than the original Waypoint-1, which itself was trained on 10,000 hours of game footage paired with control inputs. It ships in two tiers: a 720p model for desktop GPUs from the RTX 3090 to the RTX 5090, reaching up to 60 FPS, and a lighter 360p model for gaming laptops and Apple Silicon Macs.
It generates first-person, game-like worlds that respond to keyboard and mouse in real time, and early players described it as one of the first world models that genuinely feels like a playable action game rather than something you just watch.
How to run it
You can play instantly in the browser through Overworld.stream with no GPU, or run it locally with Biome, Overworld's open-source desktop client for Windows and Mac. Developers can use the open-source world_engine Python library. Weights are on Hugging Face under Apache 2.0, and the model supports LoRA fine-tuning.
Waypoint 2
Overworld's next model, Waypoint 2, is in invite-only beta. It turns a prompt or an image into an explorable world, locally or via streaming, with more visual detail and stability as the world unfolds. Alongside it, Overworld is building a game-creation toolset meant to author complete first-person games from a single prompt. Resolution, frame rate, hardware requirements and licensing for Waypoint 2 have not been published yet.
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Runs locally on consumer GPUs, including the RTX 3090
- Up to 60 FPS — real game-level frame rates
- Apache 2.0 with LoRA fine-tuning
- Browser streaming option with no GPU needed
Limitations
- Lower photorealism than the largest models
- Game-style worlds and controls
- Waypoint 2 details not yet public
Who is Waypoint (Overworld) for?
Gamers and indie developers who want a responsive, local, open world model, and anyone who cares about privacy and latency more than cinematic realism.
Frequently asked questions
What GPU do I need for Waypoint-1.5?
The 720p model targets NVIDIA RTX 3090 through RTX 5090; a 360p tier runs on gaming laptops and Apple Silicon Macs.
Is Waypoint open source?
Yes. Waypoint-1.5 is released under Apache 2.0, with weights on Hugging Face and an open-source client and Python library.
Can I play Waypoint without a GPU?
Yes, in the browser through Overworld.stream.
What is Waypoint 2?
Overworld's next model, currently in invite-only beta, with more detail and stability and a toolset for building first-person games from a prompt.