Jump to content

Unity (game engine)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Unity
Developer(s)Unity Technologies
Initial release1.0 / June 8, 2005; 19 years ago (2005-06-08)
Stable release
6000.0.5f1 (Tech Stream)
2023.2.20f1 (LTS) /
June 4, 2024; 4 months ago (2024-06-04)[1]
April 9, 2024; 6 months ago (2024-04-09)[2]
Preview release
Unity 6000.0.0 Beta 15 (Beta)
2023.2.0a22 (Alpha) /
April 13, 2024; 6 months ago (2024-04-13)[3]
July 10, 2023; 15 months ago (2023-07-10)[4]
Written in
  • C++ (runtime)[5]
  • C# (Unity Scripting API)
PlatformSee § Supported platforms
LicenseProprietary software
Websiteunity.com Edit this at Wikidata

Unity is a cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies, first announced and released in June 2005 at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference as a Mac OS X game engine. The engine has since been gradually extended to support a variety of desktop, mobile, console, augmented reality, and virtual reality platforms. It is particularly popular for iOS and Android mobile game development, is considered easy to use for beginner developers, and is popular for indie game development.[6]

The engine can be used to create three-dimensional (3D) and two-dimensional (2D) games, as well as interactive simulations.[7][8] The engine has been adopted by industries outside video gaming, such as film, automotive, architecture, engineering, construction, and the United States Armed Forces.[9]

History

[edit]
Release timeline
2005Unity 1.0
2006
2007Unity 2.0
2008
2009
2010Unity 3.0
2011
2012Unity 4.0
2013
2014
2015Unity 5
2016
2017Unity 2017
2018Unity 2018
2019Unity 2019
2020Unity 2020
2021Unity 2021
2022Unity 2022
2023Unity 2023
2024Unity 6

The Unity game engine launched in 2005, aiming to "democratize" game development by making it accessible to more developers.[7][10] It was shown at Worldwide Developers Conference 2005 by Scott Forstall on Mac OS X.[11] The next year, Unity was named runner-up in the Best Use of Mac OS X Graphics category in Apple Inc.'s Apple Design Awards.[12] Unity was initially released for Mac OS X, later adding support for Microsoft Windows and Web browsers.[13]

Unity 2.0 (2007)

[edit]

Unity 2.0 launched in 2007 with approximately 50 new features. DirectX support was added in 2.0.[14] The release included an optimized terrain engine for detailed 3D environments, real-time dynamic shadows, directional lights and spotlights, video playback, and other features.[14] The release also added a version control system to allow developers to collaborate more easily.[14] It included a Networking Layer for developers to create multiplayer games based on the User Datagram Protocol, offering Network Address Translation, State Synchronization, and Remote Procedure Calls.[14] When Apple launched its App Store in 2008, Unity added support for the iPhone.[13] Unity 2.5, released in March, 2009, added editor support for Windows.[15]

Unity 3.0 (2010)

[edit]

Unity 3.0 launched in September 2010 with features expanding the engine's graphics features for desktop computers and video game consoles.[16] In addition to Android support, Unity 3 featured integration of Illuminate Labs' Beast Lightmap tool, deferred rendering, a built-in tree editor, native font rendering, automatic UV mapping, and audio filters, among other features.[16] In 2012 VentureBeat wrote, "Few companies have contributed as much to the flowing of independently produced games as Unity Technologies. [...] More than 1.3 million developers are using its tools to create gee-whiz graphics in their iOS, Android, console, PC, and web-based games. Unity wants to be the engine for multi-platform games, period."[17] A May 2012 survey by Game Developer magazine indicated Unity as its top game engine for mobile platforms.[18]

Unity 4.0 (2012)

[edit]

In November 2012, Unity Technologies delivered Unity 4.0.[19] This version added DirectX 11 and Adobe Flash support, new animation tools called Mecanim, and access to the Linux preview.[19]

Facebook integrated a software development kit for games using the Unity game engine in 2013.[20] This featured tools that allowed tracking advertising campaigns and deep linking, where users were directly linked from social media posts to specific portions within games, and easy in-game-image sharing.[20] In 2016, Facebook developed a new PC gaming platform with Unity.[21] Unity provided support for Facebook's gaming platforms, and Unity developers could more quickly export and publish games to Facebook.[21]

Unity 5 (2015)

[edit]

The Verge said of 2015's Unity 5 release: "Unity started with the goal of making game development universally accessible. [...] Unity 5 is a long-awaited step towards that future."[22] With Unity 5, the engine improved its lighting and audio.[23] Through WebGL, Unity developers could add their games to compatible Web browsers with no plug-ins required for players.[23] Unity 5.0 offered real-time global illumination, light mapping previews, Unity Cloud, a new audio system, and the Nvidia PhysX 3.3 physics engine.[23] The fifth generation of the Unity engine also introduced Cinematic Image Effects to help make Unity games look less generic.[24] Unity began offering an experimental and unsupported Linux editor build in August 2015.[25] Unity 5.6 added new lighting and particle effects, updated the engine's overall performance, and added native support for Nintendo Switch, Facebook Gameroom, Google Daydream, and the Vulkan graphics API.[26] It introduced a 4K video player capable of running 360-degree videos for virtual reality.[26]

However, some gamers criticized Unity's accessibility due to the high volume of quickly produced games published on the Steam distribution platform by inexperienced developers.[27] Former CEO John Riccitiello said in an interview that he believes this to be a side-effect of Unity's success in democratizing game development: "If I had my way, I'd like to see 50 million people using Unity – although I don't think we're going to get there any time soon. I'd like to see high school and college kids using it, people outside the core industry. I think it's sad that most people are consumers of technology and not creators. The world's a better place when people know how to create, not just consume, and that's what we're trying to promote."[28]

Annual releases (2017–2023)

[edit]

In December 2016, Unity Technologies announced that they would change the version numbering system for Unity from sequence-based identifiers to year of release to align the versioning with their more frequent release cadence; Unity 5.6 was therefore followed by Unity 2017.[29] Unity 2017 tools featured a real-time graphics rendering engine, color grading and worldbuilding, live operations analytics and performance reporting.[30] Unity 2017.2 underscored Unity Technologies' plans beyond video games.[30] This included new tools such as Timeline, which allowed developers to drag-and-drop animations into games, and Cinemachine, a smart camera system within games.[30] Unity 2017.2 also integrated Autodesk's 3DS Max and Maya tools into the Unity engine for a streamlined asset sharing in-game iteration process.[31]

Unity 2018 featured the Scriptable Render Pipeline for developers to create high-end graphics.[32] This included the High-Definition Rendering Pipeline for console and PC experiences, and the Lightweight Rendering Pipeline (later renamed to the Universal Render Pipeline[33]) for mobile, virtual reality, and augmented reality.[32] Unity 2018 also included machine learning tools, such as Imitation Learning, whereby games learn from real player habits, support for Magic Leap, and templates for new developers.[32]

The C# source code of Unity was published under a "reference-only" license in March 2018, which prohibits reuse and modification.[34]

As of 2020, software built with Unity's game engine was running on more than 1.5 billion devices. According to Unity, apps made with their game engine account for 50 percent of all mobile games, and are downloaded more than 3 billion times per month, and approximately 15,000 new projects are started daily with its software.[35][36] Financial Times reported that Unity's engine "powers some of the world's most lucrative mobile games", such as Pokémon Go and Activision's Call of Duty Mobile.[37]

In June 2020, Unity introduced the Mixed and Augmented Reality Studio (MARS), which provides developers with additional functionality for rules-based generation of augmented reality (AR) applications.[38] Unity released Unity Forma, an automotive and retail solution tool, on December 9, 2020.[39]

In June 2020, Unity announced the Unity Editor will support Apple Silicon. The first beta version shipped later that year.[40][41]

Unity 2021 brought multiple new features such as Bolt, Unity's Visual Scripting system, a new multiplayer library to support multiplayer games, improved Il2cpp runtime performance, Volumetric clouds for the High Definition Render pipeline.[42] Shadow caching and Screen Space Global Illumination for HDRP.[43] For the Universal Render Pipeline it added new features such as point light shadows, Deferred renderer and general core engine improvements and fixes.[44][45] Full Apple Silicon support was also added in Unity 2021.2. Unity Hub support for Apple Silicon editors arrived in version 3.0 in January 2022.[46]

Changes to Unity 2022 were intended to improve productivity by reducing the time required to enter play mode and import files, and implementing visual search queries and multi selection in the package manager.[47] For 2D projects, changes focused on accelerating core software, import, animation, and physics. Sprite atlasing was revised. Support for PSD extension files and layer management were added to the 2D PSD Importer, and Delaunay tessellation for 2D physics was added.[47]

Unity 6 (2024)

[edit]

On November 16, 2023, Unity announced that the next version of the engine would be called Unity 6, reverting to the previous version numbering convention. Unity 6 launched on October 17, 2024, with new features including new generative AI tools called Unity Muse and Unity Sentis.[48][49] Unity also announced plans for a revised licensing agreement, including a runtime-fee (see #Runtime fee reception).[50] In response to backlash, Unity canceled this runtime fee in September 2024.[51]

Features

[edit]

Unity gives users the ability to create games and experiences in both 2D and 3D, and the engine offers a primary scripting API in C# using Mono, for both the Unity editor in the form of plugins, and games themselves, as well as drag and drop functionality.[52] Prior to C# being the primary programming language used for the engine, it previously supported Boo, which was removed with the release of Unity 5,[53] and a Boo-based implementation of JavaScript called UnityScript, which was deprecated in August 2017, after the release of Unity 2017.1, in favor of C#.[54][55]

Within 2D games, Unity allows importation of sprites and an advanced 2D world renderer. For 3D games, Unity allows specification of texture compression, mipmaps, and resolution settings for each platform that the game engine supports,[56] and provides support for bump mapping, reflection mapping, parallax mapping, screen space ambient occlusion (SSAO), dynamic shadows using shadow maps, render-to-texture and full-screen post-processing effects.[57]

Two separate render pipelines are available, High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) and Universal Render Pipeline (URP, previously LWRP), in addition to the legacy built-in pipeline.[58][59] All three render pipelines are incompatible with each other.[60] Unity offers a tool to upgrade shaders using the legacy renderer to URP or HDRP.

Creators can develop and sell user-generated assets to other game makers via the Unity Asset Store. This includes 3D and 2D assets and environments for developers to buy and sell.[61] Unity Asset Store launched in 2010. By 2018, there had been approximately 40 million downloads through the digital store.[62]

Supported platforms

[edit]

Unity is a cross-platform engine.[63] The Unity editor is supported on Windows, macOS, and the Linux platform, while the engine itself currently supports building games for more than 19 different platforms, including mobile, desktop, consoles, and virtual reality.[64][65] Unity 2022.3 LTS officially supports the following platforms:[66]

Formerly supported platforms are Wii,[83] Wii U,[84] PlayStation 3,[85] Xbox 360,[85] Tizen,[86] PlayStation Vita,[87] 3DS,[88] BlackBerry 10,[89] Windows Phone 8,[89] Samsung Smart TV,[90] Gear VR,[65] Daydream,[91] Vuforia,[75] Facebook Gameroom,[91] and Stadia.[92] Unity formerly supported other platforms including its own Unity Web Player, a Web browser plugin.[71] However, it was deprecated in favor of WebGL.[93] Since version 5, Unity has been offering its WebGL bundle compiled to JavaScript using a 2-stage language translator (C# to C++ and finally to JavaScript).[94]

Unity was the default software development kit (SDK) used for Nintendo's Wii U video game console, with a free copy included by Nintendo with each Wii U developer license. Unity Technologies called this bundling of a third-party SDK an "industry first".[17][95]

In August 2023, Unity China announced that it would soon launch a Chinese edition called Tuanjie Engine (Chinese: 团结引擎; pinyin: Tuánjié Yǐnqíng) based on Unity 2022 LTS, which includes support for Chinese platforms like Weixin Mini Game, OpenHarmony and AliOS.[96]

Licensing

[edit]

During its first ten years as a product, the paid versions of Unity were sold outright; in 2016, the corporation changed to a subscription model.[91] Unity has free and paid licensing options. The free license is for personal use or smaller companies generating less than $100,000 annually, later raised to $200,000, and the subscriptions are based on revenues generated by the games using Unity.[97][65] The subscription-based versions also include additional features geared towards professional projects, including analytics, performance analysis and error reporting, and Cloud Build among others.[98]

The paid option, Unity Pro, had been required for developers that had over $200,000 in annual revenue, but this also could have been provided for console developers through a Preferred Platform License from the console manufacturer. The Unity Pro keys would have been part of the other SDK from the console manufacturer that the developer paid for. In May 2016, Unity released "Unity Plus", a mid-range tier between Personal and Pro that provides tools and benefits oriented towards "first-time commercial developers".[99]

In June 2021, Unity changed its licensing terms to require any developer making games on the closed console systems (PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox) regardless of revenue to have a Unity Pro license or a Preferred Platform License Key from the manufacturers. Sony and Nintendo provide this as part of the SDK, but Microsoft had yet to implement this functionality for their SDK.[100] The engine source code is licensed on a "per-case basis via special arrangements".[101]

Runtime fee reception

[edit]

On September 12, 2023, Unity announced that use of the engine would become subject to royalties (referred to as a "runtime fee") beginning in January 2024, calculated per-installation and charged monthly, if the product reaches specific revenue and lifetime installation thresholds. Unity states that monetizing the runtime in this manner is required to "allow creators to keep the ongoing financial gains from player engagement."[102][103]

The new terms faced criticism from game developers who had been using Unity for years, particularly regarding how this fee would be calculated and enforced, and the implications for demos, freemium games and bundles distributed for charitable causes.[104][105][106] The change was considered to be contradictory to statements made by former CEO John Riccitiello in 2015 when Unity originally announced its shift to free and subscription-based models, stating that all users would "get the full power of Unity for free", and that there would not be royalties (in contrast to Unreal Engine, which had recently switched to free distribution but with royalties paid above a specific revenue threshold).[107][98]

Unity subsequently issued a statement clarifying the definition of a chargeable "installation", and announced that the fee would not apply to charity games or bundles.[108][109] Many indie developers, including Among Us developer Innersloth[110] and Slay the Spire developer Mega Crit,[111] announced that they would switch to other game engines.

An analysis by Ars Technica found that several older versions of Unity's terms of service would allow developers to continue to release their software without having to pay the new fee, as long as they did not update their project after the January 1, 2024 date.[107] Ars Technica also discovered that Unity had apparently removed a GitHub repository that permitted developers to track changes in Unity's terms of service;[107] Mega Crit accused Unity of having done so to apply their new financial model to games retroactively.[112][113] An analysis by Game Developer came to the conclusion that the changes were intended to encourage games with large install bases such as Genshin Impact, Subway Surfers and Hearthstone to migrate to Unity services in order to get a fee reduction. The article noted that the Operate Solutions division, handling in-app-purchase services for example, was far more profitable than the Create division, and added that "The many indie developers who will be left by the roadside are completely incidental to Unity's goals, and are not going to be a significant factor in its future decision making."[114] Gameindustry.biz described the move as "self-combustion" and identified the changes as an example of enshittification.[115]

In response to this negative feedback, Unity Technologies introduced revised runtime fee terms on September 22, 2023. These included removing any fees for uses of Unity Personal for projects funded up to $200,000 (an increase from the previous $100,000 threshold), fees would only apply to games developed with Unity 2024 and beyond without any retroactive fees, and the fee would be based on the lesser of 2.5% of monthly revenue or a calculated value based on monthly engagements, both which rely only on self-reporting of these numbers.[116][117] Unity Technologies faced a 60% decline in stock price over the year to May 2024, partially attributed to the runtime fee policy.[118] Usage of Unity waned after these licensing decisions within the indie game community. The use of Unity at the 2023 Global Game Jam was 61%; this declined to 36% for 2024. A similar decline was recorded by the GMTK Game Jam.[119][120]

CEO Matthew Bromberg announced in September 2024 that the company was discontinuing the runtime fee model of licensing, and instead would annually increase the price of existing plans.[51]

Usage

[edit]

Video games

[edit]

The engine is used in games including Pokémon Go, Monument Valley, Call of Duty: Mobile, Beat Saber and Cuphead according to the Financial Times in 2020.[121] Some early commercial games in 2007 include Splume (Flashbang Studios), Magical Flying Pink Pony Game (Starscene Software) and Global Conflicts: Palestine (Serious Games Interactive).[122]

As of 2018, Unity had been used to create approximately half of the mobile games on the market and 60 percent of augmented reality and virtual reality content,[123] including approximately 90 percent on emerging augmented reality platforms, such as Microsoft HoloLens, and 90 percent of Samsung Gear VR content.[97] Unity technology is the basis for most virtual reality and augmented reality experiences, and Fortune said Unity "dominates the virtual reality business".[124][125][126]

Machine Learning

[edit]

Unity allows researchers in the field of deep reinforcement learning to train agents inside Unity-created environments.[127] Unity Machine Learning Agents can act as virtual characters or robots to learn creative strategies to interact with simulated real-world environments.[127] The software is used, for example, to develop robots and self-driving cars.[127][128]

Non-gaming industries

[edit]

In the 2010s, Unity Technologies used its game engine to transition into other industries using the real-time 3D platform, including film and automotive.[129][130] Unity first experimented in filmmaking with Adam, a short film about a robot escaping from prison. Later, Unity partnered with filmmaker Neill Blomkamp, whose Oats Studios used the engine's tools, including real-time rendering and Cinemachine, to create two computer-generated short films, Adam: The Mirror and Adam: The Prophet.[129] At the 2017 Unite Europe conference in Amsterdam, Unity focused on filmmaking with Unity 2017.1's new Cinemachine tool.[61] In 2018, Disney Television Animation launched three shorts, called Baymax Dreams, that were created using the Unity engine.[131] The Unity engine was also used by Disney to create backgrounds for the 2019 film The Lion King.[132] Automakers use Unity's technology to create full-scale models of new vehicles in virtual reality, build virtual assembly lines, and train workers.[130] Unity is also developing solutions in the fields of architecture, engineering, and construction.[133]

Unity's engine is used by DeepMind, an Alphabet Inc. company, to train artificial intelligence.[128] Other uses being pursued by Unity Technologies include architecture, engineering, and construction.[133]

Mascot

[edit]

On December 16, 2013, Unity Technologies Japan revealed an official mascot character named Unity-chan (ユニティちゃん, Yuniti-chan), real name Kohaku Ōtori (大鳥 こはく, Ōtori Kohaku) (voiced by Asuka Kakumoto [ja; zh]). The character's associated game data was released in early 2014.[134][135] The character was designed by Unity Technologies Japan designer "ntny" as an open-source heroine character.[136] The company allows the use of Unity-chan and related characters in secondary projects under certain licenses.[137] For example, Unity-chan appears as a playable character in Runbow.[138]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Unity download archive". Unity. Archived from the original on January 10, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  2. ^ "Long Term Support". Unity. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023.
  3. ^ "Unity 2022.2 beta resources". Unity. Archived from the original on August 10, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  4. ^ "Unity 2023.1 alpha". Unity. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  5. ^ Brodkin, Jon (June 3, 2013). "How Unity3D Became a Game-Development Beast". Archived from the original on October 19, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  6. ^ Dealessandri, Marie (January 16, 2020). "What is the best game engine: is Unity right for you?". GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on April 4, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Axon, Samuel (September 27, 2016). "Unity at 10: For better—or worse—game development has never been easier". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on October 5, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  8. ^ Takahashi, Dean (September 15, 2018). "John Riccitiello Q&A: How Unity CEO views Epic's Fortnite success". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on September 17, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  9. ^ "Government & Aerospace". Unity. Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
  10. ^ a b c McWhertor, Michael (October 22, 2014). "Former EA CEO John Riccitiello is now head of Unity". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  11. ^ "5 Years Later, Unity Used by 170,000 Developers and Available on 9 Different Devices". TechCrunch. June 7, 2010. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  12. ^ Smykill, Jeff (August 9, 2006). "Apple Design Award winners announced". ArsTechnica. Archived from the original on January 19, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  13. ^ a b Brodkin, Jon (June 3, 2013). "How Unity3D Became a Game-Development Beast". Dice Insights. Archived from the original on October 19, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  14. ^ a b c d Cohen, Peter (October 11, 2007). "Unity 2.0 game engine now available". PCWorld. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  15. ^ "Unity Blog".
  16. ^ a b Girard, Dave (September 27, 2010). "Unity 3 brings very expensive dev tools at a very low price". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  17. ^ a b Helgason, David (November 2, 2012). "Game developers, start your Unity 3D engines". GamesBeat (Interview). Interviewed by Dean Takahashi. VentureBeat. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  18. ^ "Mobile game developer survey leans heavily toward iOS, Unity". Game Developer. May 24, 2012. Archived from the original on July 3, 2014. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  19. ^ a b Tach, Dave (November 14, 2012). "Unity 4.0 available for download today with DX 11 support and Linux preview". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  20. ^ a b Cohen, David (November 1, 2013). "How Facebook Integrated With The Unity Game Engine". Adweek. Archived from the original on December 12, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  21. ^ a b Cohen, David (August 19, 2016). "Facebook Developing New PC Gaming Platform; Teams Up With Unity Technologies". Adweek. Archived from the original on December 11, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  22. ^ Robertson, Adi (March 3, 2015). "Unity officially releases its new game engine: Unity 5". The Verge. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
  23. ^ a b c Kumparak, Greg (March 18, 2014). "Unity 5 Announced With Better Lighting, Better Audio, And "Early" Support For Plugin-Free Browser Games". Archived from the original on February 19, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  24. ^ Orland, Kyle (March 15, 2016). "How new graphics effects can make Unity Engine games look less generic". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  25. ^ "Unity Blog".
  26. ^ a b Grubb, Jeff (March 31, 2017). "Unity 5.6 launches with support for Vulkan graphics, Nintendo Switch, and more". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  27. ^ Dale, Laura Kate (July 6, 2015). "Unity – does indie gaming's biggest engine have an image problem?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 14, 2015. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  28. ^ "The chaos of democracy". MCVUK. Develop Online. July 7, 2015. Archived from the original on October 17, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  29. ^ Batchelor, James (December 14, 2016). "Unity dropping major updates in favour of date-based model". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on March 19, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  30. ^ a b c "Unity Technologies – The World's Leading Game Engine". Nanalyze. October 18, 2017. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  31. ^ McAloon, Alissa (October 4, 2017). "Unity 2017.2 brings Autodesk integration into the fold". Game Developer. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  32. ^ a b c Batchelor, James (March 20, 2018). "Unity 2018 detailed in GDC keynote". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  33. ^ "Official - Lightweight Render Pipeline is Evolving!". July 9, 2019. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  34. ^ Chapple, Craig (March 26, 2018). "Unity publishes reference-only C# source code on GitHub". pocketgamer.biz. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  35. ^ Takahashi, Dean (August 24, 2020). "Unity files for IPO, reveals $163 million loss for 2019 and 1.5 million monthly users". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on August 27, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  36. ^ De Vynck, Gerrit (May 7, 2020). "Unity Technologies Aims to Bring Video Game Tools Into the Real World". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on March 6, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  37. ^ Bradshaw, Tim; Kruppa, Miles (August 11, 2020). "Epic and Unity rev their engines for the next era of entertainment". Financial Times. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  38. ^ Sprigg, Sam (June 8, 2018). "Unity MARS Augmented and Mixed Reality authoring studio now available". auganix.org. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  39. ^ "Unity Introduces Unity Forma - An Automotive and Retail Solution Tool for the Creation and Delivery of Custom Real-Time 3D Marketing Content". Business Wire. December 9, 2020. Archived from the original on December 9, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  40. ^ "Unity coming to Apple silicon". Unity Blog. Archived from the original on February 11, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  41. ^ "Official - Now Available - Native Apple Silicon Editor Preview Builds". Unity Forum. June 8, 2021. Archived from the original on February 11, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  42. ^ Yves Donzallaz, Pierre; Benyoub, Anis (November 5, 2021). "Experience true Volumetric Clouds with HDRP & Unity 2021.2". Unity Blog. Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  43. ^ "High Definition Render Pipeline - Unity Platform - Rendering & Visual Effects". portal.productboard.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  44. ^ Hauwert, Ralph; Bowell, Andrew (August 13, 2020). "The road to 2021". Unity Blog. Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  45. ^ Peterson, Josh (February 17, 2022). "Feature highlight: IL2CPP runtime performance improvements in Unity 2021.2". Unity Blog. Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  46. ^ "Official - Apple silicon support through the Unity Hub". Unity Forum. January 10, 2022. Archived from the original on February 11, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  47. ^ a b "Unity 2022.1 Tech Stream". Unity.com. November 26, 2022. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  48. ^ Francis, Bryant (November 16, 2023). "The next version of Unity will be called Unity 6". Game Developer. Archived from the original on November 16, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  49. ^ https://www.ign.com/articles/we-want-to-be-a-fundamentally-different-and-better-company-says-new-unity-boss-as-unity-6-launches
  50. ^ Griffiths, Daniel (November 17, 2023). "Unity CEO Jim Whitehurst tackles the Runtime Fee farrago one last time". pocketgamer.biz.
  51. ^ a b Takahashi, Dean (September 12, 2024). "Unity cancels its much-hated Runtime Fee, opting for traditional price increases instead". VentureBeat. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  52. ^ "UNITY: Unity Whitepaper". unity3d.com. Archived from the original on February 22, 2006.
  53. ^ "What's new in Unity 5.0". Unity Technologies. Archived from the original on October 17, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  54. ^ Fine, Richard (August 11, 2017). "UnityScript's long ride off into the sunset". Unity Technologies Blog. Archived from the original on October 17, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  55. ^ "GitHub - UnityScript". Unity Technologies. Archived from the original on November 24, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  56. ^ "Unity – Multiplatform". Unity. Unity Technologies. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  57. ^ "Using DirectX11 in Unity 4". Unity Technologies. Archived from the original on March 12, 2013. Retrieved February 19, 2013.
  58. ^ Torres Bonet, Ruben (April 19, 2018). "Unity SRP Overview: Scriptable Render Pipeline". Game Developer. Archived from the original on December 11, 2022. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  59. ^ "Unity - Manual: Render pipelines". Unity Docs. Archived from the original on February 21, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  60. ^ "Unity - Manual: Built-in shaders". Unity Docs. Archived from the original on February 22, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  61. ^ a b Savov, Vlad (June 30, 2017). "Unity is the little game engine that could revolutionize animated movies". The Verge. Archived from the original on September 9, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  62. ^ Grubb, Jeff (July 18, 2018). "Unity's asset store boss has big plans to fight Epic's Unreal". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on September 9, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  63. ^ Riccitiello, John (October 23, 2014). "John Riccitiello sets out to identify the engine of growth for Unity Technologies (interview)". VentureBeat (Interview). Interviewed by Dean Takahashi. Archived from the original on January 17, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  64. ^ Kelliher, Fiona (August 24, 2018). "Video game company grabs two buildings on Mission Street for big expansion". San Francisco Business Times. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  65. ^ a b c d Robertson, Adi (March 3, 2015). "Unity officially releases its new game engine: Unity 5". The Verge. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  66. ^ "Unity - Manual: System requirements for Unity 2020 LTS". docs.unity3d.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  67. ^ a b c d e f Dillet, Romain (September 5, 2018). "Unity CEO says half of all games are built on Unity". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  68. ^ Lavieri, Edward (2018). Getting Started with Unity 2018: A Beginner's Guide to 2D and 3D game development with Unity, 3rd Edition. Packt Publishing. p. 20. ISBN 9781788832915. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  69. ^ Suckley, Matt (December 10, 2015). "Unity 5.3 launches with improved support for iOS 9 and WebGL". Pocketgamer.biz. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  70. ^ Coppock, Mark (November 30, 2016). "Unity 5.5 can now be used to create HoloLens augmented reality titles". Digital Trends. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  71. ^ a b Bright, Peter (March 18, 2014). "Unity game engine heading to the browser without plug-ins". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  72. ^ Takahashi, Dean (February 4, 2021). "Unity Technologies posts Q4 revenue of $220.3 million, up 39%". VentureBeat. GamesBeat. Archived from the original on February 21, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  73. ^ Parijat, Shubhankar (November 20, 2020). "Xbox Series S is "An Extremely Capable Machine" – Unity Chief Product Officer". GamingBolt. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  74. ^ DeNisco Rayome, Alison (January 23, 2017). "How to become a Unity developer for VR and AR". Tech Republic. Archived from the original on December 13, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  75. ^ a b Graham, Peter (October 4, 2017). "Unity 2017.2 Featuring Optimised Support for ARCore and ARKit launching This Month". VR Focus. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  76. ^ Clayton, Natalie (June 15, 2018). "Unity ARKit update includes persistent mapping and improved tracking". Pocketgamer.biz. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  77. ^ Graham, Peter (February 17, 2018). "Build in Unity? Want to Know More About Crafting for Windows Mixed Reality? Then Check out These new Videos From Microsoft". VR Focus. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  78. ^ Wawro, Alex (April 29, 2015). "Unity rolls out support for Microsoft's HoloLens goggles". Game Developer. Archived from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  79. ^ Palladino, Tommy (November 9, 2018). "Magic Leap Publishes More L.E.A.P. Developer Videos Featuring Insomniac Games, Weta Workshop & More". Next Reality. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  80. ^ "Unity - Manual: XR". docs.unity3d.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  81. ^ Plummer, Quinten (February 16, 2016). "Unity and SteamVR Unite for Native Vive Support". Tech News World. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  82. ^ Grubb, Jeff (February 10, 2016). "Unity game-making tool gets native support for Google's 5M Cardboard virtual reality devices". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  83. ^ Caoili, Eric (June 2, 2008). "Unity to Support Wii Console as Authorized Middleware Provider". Game Developer. Archived from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  84. ^ Handrahan, Matthew (September 19, 2012). "Unity signs "industry first" licensing agreement for Wii U". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on April 9, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  85. ^ a b DeLoura, Mark (March 9, 2010). "In-Depth: The State Of Game Engines At GDC 2010". Game Developer. Archived from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  86. ^ Pitcher, Jenna (May 24, 2013). "Unity supporting Linux-based platform Tizen". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  87. ^ Gilbert, Ben (January 15, 2014). "One of gaming's most-used engines arrives today on PlayStation Vita". Engadget. Archived from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  88. ^ Jarvis, Matthew (February 1, 2016). "Unity now supports Nintendo 3DS". MCVUK. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  89. ^ a b Rose, Mike (July 22, 2013). "Unity now supports Windows Phone 8, Windows Store and BlackBerry 10". Game Developer. Archived from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  90. ^ Harris, Richard (August 28, 2014). "Unity Adds Another Big Screen Option for Game Developers with Unity 4.5 for Samsung Smart TV". App Developer Magazine. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  91. ^ a b c Batchelor, James (December 14, 2016). "Unity dropping major updates in favour of date-based model". Gamesindustry.biz. Archived from the original on July 21, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  92. ^ Moon, Mariella (March 24, 2020). "Google makes it easier for studios to self-publish Stadia games". Engadget. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021.
  93. ^ Echterhoff, Jonas (October 8, 2015). "Unity Web Player Roadmap". Unity Technologies Blog. Archived from the original on April 25, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  94. ^ Kovelenov, Yuri (August 23, 2018). "Verge3D versus Unity WebGL". Soft8Soft. Archived from the original on August 24, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  95. ^ McElroy, Griffin (August 20, 2013). "Unity for Wii U opens up GamePad hardware and more to developers". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  96. ^ Unity 引擎中国版“团结引擎”正式发布 [Chinese edition of Unity Engine 'Tuanjie Engine' officially announced]. PingWest. August 23, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  97. ^ a b Matney, Lucas (May 25, 2017). "With new realities to build, Unity positioned to become tech giant". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on October 20, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  98. ^ a b Sinclair, Brendan (March 3, 2015). ""There's no royalties, no f***ing around" - Riccitiello". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  99. ^ "Game engine Unity expands its reach with 'Unity Plus'". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  100. ^ Francis, Bryant (August 4, 2021). "Going forward, Unity devs will need Unity Pro to publish on consoles". Game Developer. Archived from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  101. ^ "FAQ Licensing & activation". Unity Technologies. Archived from the original on May 5, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  102. ^ "Unity plan pricing and packaging updates". Unity Blog. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  103. ^ Carpenter, Nicole (September 12, 2023). "Game devs say Unity's big change puts studios at risk". Polygon. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  104. ^ Stuart, Keith (September 12, 2023). "Game developers furious as Unity Engine announces new fees". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  105. ^ Plant, Logan (September 12, 2023). "Why Unity's New Install Fees Are Spurring Massive Backlash Among Game Developers". IGN. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  106. ^ Francis, Bryant (September 12, 2023). "Unity introducing new fee attached to game installs". Game Developer. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  107. ^ Phillips, Tom (September 13, 2023). "Unity backtracks slightly on plans to charge developers for game installs". Eurogamer. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  108. ^ Carpenter, Nicole (September 12, 2023). "Game devs say Unity's big change puts studios at risk". Polygon. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  109. ^ Bailey, Kat (September 13, 2023). "Among Us: Temporary Delisting 'On the Table' as Developer Weighs Engine Swap Amid Unity Scandal". IGN. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  110. ^ "Slay the Spire developer pledges to ditch Unity unless controversial charges plan reversed". Eurogamer.net. September 14, 2023.
  111. ^ Obedkov, Evgeny (September 14, 2023). "Devs discovered that Unity removed GitHub repo to track license changes and updated its TOS be retroactive". Game World Observer. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  112. ^ Jones, Ali (September 14, 2023). "Slay the Spire studio serves Unity one of its harshest roasts yet, and other devs love it". Games Radar. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  113. ^ Vilberg, Petter (September 14, 2023). "Unity's Just Not Into You, Indie Developer". Game Developer.
  114. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (September 15, 2023). "Unity's self-combustion engine | This Week in Business". GamesIndustry.biz.
  115. ^ Bankhurst, Adam (September 17, 2023). "Unity Has Apologized For Its Install Fee Policy and Says It 'Will Be Making Changes' to It". IGN. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  116. ^ Steadman, Alex (September 22, 2023). "Unity to Roll Back Some Key Aspects of Runtime Fee Policy". IGN. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
  117. ^ "Is Unity Software Stock a Buy Now?". www.aol.com. July 3, 2024.
  118. ^ Bespyatova, Ekaterina (August 23, 2024). "Organizers of the GMTK Game Jam: Over the year, the share of Unity games declined sharply, while the share of Godot games increased". app2top.com (in Russian).
  119. ^ "Game Engine Popularity in 2024". GameFromScratch.com. January 29, 2024.
  120. ^ Bradshaw, Tim; Kruppa, Miles (August 12, 2020). "Epic and Unity rev their engines for the next era of entertainment". Financial Times. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  121. ^ Unity 10 Year Anniversary Retrospective Highlight Reel (Videotape). Unity Technologies. June 24, 2015 – via YouTube.
  122. ^ Bonfiglio, Nahila (October 1, 2018). "DeepMind partners with gaming company for AI research". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on October 2, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  123. ^ Gaudiosi, John (March 19, 2015). "This company dominates the virtual reality business, and it's not named Oculus". Fortune. Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  124. ^ Gaudiosi, John (February 11, 2016). "Why Valve's Partnership With Unity Is Important to Virtual Reality". Fortune. Archived from the original on December 8, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  125. ^ "Most Innovative Companies: Unity Technologies". Fast Company. 2018. Archived from the original on September 27, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  126. ^ a b c Captain, Sean (September 19, 2017). "Machine Learning Is Making Video Game Characters Smarter And Robots More Competent". Fast Company. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  127. ^ a b Captain, Sean (September 26, 2018). "How Google's DeepMind will train its AI inside Unity's video game worlds". Fast Company. Archived from the original on September 27, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  128. ^ a b Liptak, Andrew (November 30, 2017). "How Neill Blomkamp and Unity are shaping the future of filmmaking with Adam: The Mirror". The Verge. Archived from the original on September 25, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  129. ^ a b Edelstein, Stephen (May 17, 2018). "How gaming company Unity is driving automakers toward virtual reality". Digital Trends. Archived from the original on August 7, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  130. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (August 9, 2018). "Disney Television Animation Launching 'Big Hero 6'-Themed Shorts". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 9, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  131. ^ De Vynck, Gerrit (May 7, 2020). "Unity Technologies Aims to Bring Video Game Tools Into the Real World". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on March 6, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  132. ^ a b Oreskovic, Alexei (September 14, 2018). "Why EA's former boss believes the 3D tech that powers video games will make way more money outside of gaming". Business Insider. Archived from the original on September 15, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  133. ^ "'Unity'開発者向けに無償利用可能なキャラクター'ユニティちゃん'が来春デビュー!" [The character 'Unity-chan' that can be used free of charge for 'Unity' developers will debut next spring!]. Famitsu (in Japanese). December 16, 2013. Archived from the original on June 30, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  134. ^ "Meet Unity-chan, the Unity Engine's New Mascot in Japan". December 16, 2013. Archived from the original on August 27, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  135. ^ "Unity Japan Introduces Their Mascot, Unity-Chan, And How She Was Made". April 15, 2014. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  136. ^ "Data Download-Guideline". Unity Chan! Official Website. December 10, 2014. Archived from the original on November 26, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  137. ^ Olney, Alex (August 10, 2015). "Exclusive: Check Out Runbow's Complete Cast of Colourful Crossover Characters". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on October 13, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
[edit]