RenderWare was first released in 1999 by Criterion Software, a UK-based game development company. Initially, it was designed as a middleware solution for game developers to create games for various platforms, including PlayStation, Dreamcast, and PC. Over the years, RenderWare has undergone significant updates and improvements, with major releases including RenderWare 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0. In 2008, Criterion Software was acquired by Electronic Arts (EA), and RenderWare became a part of EA's game development tools portfolio.

RenderWare was primarily written in to ensure maximum performance and portability, with some C++ used for its tooling.

: Source code for the PC-Windows and PS2 versions of the Graphics SDK has been hosted on GitHub by sigmaco , including version 3.7.0.2 for PC.