"LightWave 2023 is the first software update for 3D animation since 2020. Development was halted by the previous owner, Vizrt, who acquired long-time developer NewTek last year. The new owner, LightWave Digital, is a startup led by individuals closely associated with the software during the NewTek era, including former NewTek employees, key add-on developers, and LightWave users. When the acquisition was announced in April this year, Andrew Bishop, former head of VFX studio Darkside Studios and now the Creative Director at LightWave Digital, mentioned that he was asked by a 'senior member of the NewTek team to assemble a team to save LightWave.'
Even though the new development team has had full access to the software for just over six months, LightWave 2023 already boasts several significant changes.
The most significant addition is the Procedural Geometry Nodes system. Similar to Blender's Geometry Nodes, it's a procedural 3D modeling and scattering system based on nodes and currently includes over 25 nodes. Beyond working with polygonal geometry and splines, it can create constructive solid geometry using Boolean operations and convert procedural geometry to volumetric objects and vice versa in OpenVDB format. Its outputs are 'fully time-animated and integrate with LightWave's set of instancing tools.'"

LightWave 2023 also expands the set of tools for creating instances: the new Instancer Brush allows users to paint instances on surfaces within a 3D scene using a brush. Users can control the distribution of the created instances through a basic set of parameters for managing their size, spacing, and orientation. This new tool is envisioned as a more controlled alternative to procedural instance distribution when populating 3D scenes with objects like rocks or vegetation.
Additionally, it's now possible to create 3D text in Layout—the LightWave application for layout, lighting, and animation—as well as in a separate Modeler application. The new text generator supports text stylization, including justification, alignment, skewing of 3D text, and animation for each text character.

The release also includes an extensive list of workflow improvements, especially within the node editor. Workflow enhancements based on nodes, which can be utilized for creating materials as well as procedural geometry, involve new options for duplicating, grouping, and color-coding nodes.

It is noted that several key additions to LightWave are now bundled with the core software. Among these is the TurbulenceFD gas and liquid simulation tool from Jawset Visual Computing, which LightWave Digital acquired. Previously sold for $459, this smoke and fire simulator, accelerated by GPU, has been utilized in the production pipeline of various well-known VFX, motion graphics, and animation studios. The program was also available as a plugin for Cinema 4D, although based on forum posts from Jawset, the Cinema 4D edition appears to have been discontinued.

Additionally, LightWave 2023 comes with OD Tools, a workflow-enhancing collection developed by Oliver Hotz from the VFX studio Origami Digital, which has now been renamed LightWave Pro Tools.
The LightWave integration plugin for OctaneRender, the GPU renderer produced by Otoy, is also now "included" in LightWave 2023. Previously, Otoy released a free "end-of-life" bundle in 2022 that could be used with the free Prime render version featuring a single GPU.
Finally, LightWave 2023 is bundled with ChronoSculpt, a NewTek tool for creating animation caches and simulations.

Originally released in 2013, it was initially sold for $399 but received only a couple of subsequent updates.

As of now, LightWave 2023 is exclusively available for Windows. A macOS version supporting Apple Silicon is in development, and LightWave Digital has confirmed on Discord that it will be available for free to anyone who purchases LightWave 2023.

Among other features scheduled for release in 2023 is an update to the Unreal Bridge, a direct connection between LightWave and the Unreal Engine, to support Unreal Engine 5.x.

Currently, LightWave 2023 is available for Windows 10 and above. A release for macOS based on Apple Silicon is planned for 2023. The cost of new licenses is £795 (approximately $1000).