Windows 8 Receiving Unity 4 Engine Support
he Unity game development engine is
often praised for its flexibility in development and used for building
mobile titles. Unity confirmed recently that the release of Unity 4 will
also support Microsoft's upcoming operating system, Windows 8.
Unity announced the news at its Unite conference in
Amsterdam. Support for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 will surface
during Unity 4's "release cycle". On the FAQ page at Unity 3D, Unity
said it will announce a shipping date "soon".
"Our mission at Unity has always been to
provide solutions for developers to effortlessly bring their work to as
many different platforms as possible. The Unity community has been
asking for access to Windows Phone and have been eagerly anticipating
the release of Windows 8," Unity Technologies CEO David Helgason said.
Unity also claimed Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 are two of "the most
eagerly awaited platform additions within the Unity development
community".
We are excited that that Unity community
will now be given the opportunity to develop world class titles for
Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. The number of high-quality Unity-authored
games for PC, Xbox, and mobile devices already created is staggering
and we're looking forward to seeing these products appear in the Windows
Store and the Windows Phone marketplace," Senior Director of Windows
App Marketing at Microsoft John Richards added.
Unity 4 will also have Linux support, an operating system recently adopted by Half-Life developers Valve.
The "Butterfly Effect" Unity 4 tech demo
(below) surfaced and ran on DirectX 11, detailing the journey of a man
from waking up, then causing mass chaos in a city before returning to
bed again.
How well Unity 4 will compete with the
next-generation of gaming engines remains unknown. DICE may update its
Frostbite 2 engine, rather than launching a new engine entirely, while
the increased hardware will mean exciting possibilities for developers
like 343 Industries that are pushing the Xbox 360 to its limit.
Unity is basically a free game engine, though platform licenses start from $400 and rise to $1500.
1:35 AM
Posted in: Windows
