Unite 12 Kicks Off in Amsterdam with Keynotes, Unity 4 Pre-Order Program Beta Access and Support for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.
With over 1100 attendees today marked the first day of Unite 12, Unity Technologies sixth annual developer conference held in Amsterdam. The conference was opened in tradition by the Unity Co-Founders keynote, as David Helgason, Nicholas Francis and Joachim Ante took to the stage to showcase Unity 4 and announced that the pre-order beta program will commence immediately. The game engine and tools provider also announced Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 platform support for the Unity 4 cycle as well as revealing that Union has announced plans to bring the portfolio of Unity authored content to Intel’s Atom based Android devices. Finally the team unveiled the debut of Asset Store: Online Services, the first one-stop marketplace solely driven to help game developers successfully publish games on the web or mobile via third-party services.
Following the Founders, veteran video games designer Peter Molyneux, member of the AIAS Hall of Fame and winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards, followed with the guest keynote presentation entitled Startup’s - Ideas and Unity.
At Unite 12 Unity Technologies made the following announcements (please scroll down for each full press release):-
Unity Technologies Announces Support for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8
Unity Technologies Unveils Asset Store: Online Services
Unity Technologies Brings Unity-Authored Games from the Union Portfolio to Intel® Atom™ Based Platforms
Unity Technologies, provider of the Unity multi-platform engine and development tools, today announced support of Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 platforms during the keynote at Unite 2012. Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 deployment options will be provided during the Unity 4 release cycle.
The Windows 8 deployment tool and Windows Phone 8 deployment add-on are among the most eagerly awaited platform additions within the Unity development community and will empower developers to push their interactive 3D content to Windows 8 powered computers and Windows 8 Phone mobile handsets.
“Our mission at Unity has always been to provide solutions for developers to effortlessly bring their work to as many different platforms as possible,” said David Helgason, CEO of Unity Technologies, “The Unity community has been asking for access to Windows Phones and have been eagerly anticipating the release of Windows 8. We’re happy to announce that we will support both.”
Unity Technologies and Microsoft are currently working hard to bring both deployment options to developers using Unity as soon as possible and will be discussing the process during a session at this Unite 2012, Unity’s dedicated developer conference.
“We are excited that the Unity community will now be given the opportunity to develop world class titles for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8”, said John Richards, Senior Director, Windows App Marketing at Microsoft. “The number of high quality Unity-authored games for the 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.”
Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 deployment tools will both be part of the Unity 4 release cycle.
Unity, provider of the Unity multi-platform game engine and development tools, today at Unite 2012 announced the debut of Asset Store: Online Services, the first one-stop marketplace solely driven to help game developers successfully publish games on the web or mobile via third-party services. Leading providers, including Playhaven, InMobi, GamesAnalytics, and Xsolla are including plugins and services for analytics, monetization, payments, CRM, advertising, and much more on the Asset Store: Online Services today.
Unity Technologies’ Asset Store delivers cutting-edge features for developers to plug into Unity’s APIs, fill in the blanks, and help make Unity the most comprehensive game development platform in the world.
With Asset Store: Online Services, developers are now able to face the increasingly crowded web and game marketplace through a new arsenal of plugins and publishing tools. Enterprise level analytics, lifetime value maximization (LTV) services, payment options, and other integral solutions can all be integrated right into the Unity development environment simply by downloading the predominantly free plugins available.
“At Unity our singular goal is to level the playing field for game developers and create the world’s best game development tools,” said David Helgason, CEO, Unity Technologies. “The Asset Store, an incredible avenue to pool the best-of-the-best for our developers to enhance their games, has been a tremendous help to this goal. We are proud to offer new business and monetization opportunities to Unity developers through the Asset Store: Online Services and help developers spur even further growth.”
“PlayHaven, a real-time LTV maximization platform, enables game developers to take complete control of their in-game monetization and marketing without disrupting the user experience,” said Andy Yang, CEO, PlayHaven. “We are thrilled to partner with the Unity Asset Store Online Services program and offer PlayHaven solutions to the more than one million Unity developers. With PlayHaven, developers now have the incredible opportunity to engage and monetize their players directly in the Unity environment."
Current participants of the new Asset Store: Online Services include:
● Beintoo - Beintoo, Inc.
● C3 - Vivox, Inc.
● GamesAnalytics - GamesAnalytics LTD
● InMobi - InMobi, Inc.
● inneractive - Inneractive, Inc.
● Mixamo Animation - Mixamo, Inc.
● PayStation - Xsolla, Inc.
● Photon Server - Exit Games, Inc.
● Playhaven - Playhaven, Inc.
● Placeplay - Placeplay, Inc.
● Roar Engine - Roar Engine, Inc.
● Treasure Data - Treasure Data, Inc.
● Virtual Piggy - Virtual Piggy Inc.
