SAN FRANCISCO — At the GDC show, Unity Technologies (http://unity3d.com) announced the availability of two new versions. Unity 5.3.4 gives developers focused on a product launch the latest set of features and tools in a stable environment. Unity 5.4 offers a set of in-development features ideal for developers in experimentation and prototype mode. Unity also announced that moving forward, beta releases will be made available to personal edition users. 5.4 is focused on new visual features, improved performance, and a major VR rendering upgrade.
“We remain focused on democratizing development, solving hard problems and enabling success,” says John Riccitiello, CEO, Unity. “I’m proud of the success that Unity has achieved in the last year. To achieve 30 percent share of the top 1000 grossing games is unprecedented and a testament to the creativity of developers using Unity. The two new versions we are launching today will provide something for all developer needs and set a more stable baseline for future innovation.”
After a Beta phase that saw Unity Analytics integrated into 60,000 games, Unity today announced that its Analytics service is moving out of Beta and is available to all developers. Analytics is built into Unity, no SDK required, providing easy one-click integration. Included are heatmaps, data exploration and integration of in-app purchasing for multiple app stores including newly added support for Amazon Appstore, Samsung Galaxy Apps and Tizen Store.
Device Intelligence, a feature of Unity Analytics, empowers developers to make data-driven technical decisions about what hardware to focus efforts on. Its value comes from the insight derived from the 1.5 billion devices seen by the Unity network. If developers are interested in using the new service, they can email analytics@unity3d.com for more information. Now in closed Beta, Unity Collaborate is a simple way for small teams to save, share and sync their Unity projects in the cloud. To apply to the program, please visitwww.unity3d.com/collaborate .
Unity also announced the Unity Certification Program and Unity Certified Developer Courseware. It’s a program designed to give developers the opportunity to prove their skills in Unity, achieve a qualification and use that to further their careers. Courseware will be available for purchase online soon and certification exams will be made available at Unity-hosted events worldwide.