Unity 6 launches amid ongoing effort to rebuild trust

Person holding a gaming controller to illustrate the launch of the Unity 6 game development platform.

Unity 6 has launched and is being touted as the most stable and high-performing version of the game development platform to date.

Matt Bromberg, President and CEO of Unity, revealed the launch in a blog post, emphasising the company's commitment to developer-centric improvements and long-term support.

Bromberg, who recently took the helm from John Riccitiello amid numerous controversies, including the widely-criticised (and since-cancelled) Runtime Fee, is steering the...

17 October 2024 | Developer

Halo developers shelve own game development engine for Unreal

Screenshot from a Halo project rendered in the Unreal Engine 5 game development engine.

The developers behind the iconic Halo franchise have announced a shift in their approach to game development. 343 Industries, now rebranded as Halo Studios, will be abandoning their proprietary Slipspace Engine in favour of Unreal Engine 5 for all future Halo projects.

This revelation came during the 2024 Halo World Championship, where fans were treated to a surprise video showcasing new visuals created using Unreal Engine 5. The footage depicted familiar Halo landscapes with a...

7 October 2024 | Development Tools

Snap OS debuts with developer-friendly Spectacles 5 AR glasses

Snap's Spectacles 5 AR glasses which were launched alongside Snap OS and Lens Studio for software developers.

Snap, the company behind Snapchat, has today announced the fifth generation of its ‘Spectacles’ AR glasses. These new see-through, standalone AR glasses are designed to enable users to interact with ‘Lenses’ and experience the world in novel ways alongside friends.

The latest iteration of Spectacles is powered by Snap OS, an operating system crafted to enhance natural interactions with the world. The glasses are now available through Snap's Spectacles Developer...

18 September 2024 | Developer

Unity scraps its ‘Runtime Fee’ following developer backlash

Scrap paper illustrating Unity's decision to ditch its Runtime Fee.

Unity has announced the cancellation of its contentious ‘Runtime Fee’ for game developers. The decision comes after months of intense criticism from the gaming community.

Matt Bromberg, President and CEO of Unity, stated: "After deep consultation with our community, customers, and partners, we've made the decision to cancel the Runtime Fee for our games customers, effective immediately."

The Runtime Fee, which would have charged developers based on game...

12 September 2024 | Development Tools

Xbox backlash grows as developer claims ‘they don’t care’

Enotria: The Last Song, a Soulslike game inspired by Italian folklore, is set to release on 17th September for PS5 and PC. However, Xbox players will have to wait – perhaps indefinitely – due to platform submission issues and what the developer claims is a lack of support from Microsoft.

Jacky Greco, CEO of Jyamma Games, the studio behind Enotria, said: "We’ve Xbox Series X/S version ready, but we can’t proceed with submission and release. I spent a lot of money porting...

3 September 2024 | Gaming

Epic Store debuts on EU iPhones

Epic Games has launched its own app store on iPhones in the EU. The launch comes in the wake of the EU's Digital Markets Act, which has compelled Apple to open its platform to third-party app marketplaces.

EU iPhone users can now access the Epic Games Store by visiting Epic's website on their devices, provided they are running iOS 17.4 or later. The store's initial offering is limited, featuring Epic's own titles such as Fortnite and Rocket League Sideswipe, with plans to expand...

16 August 2024 | App Stores

Unity’s EBITDA surges despite revenue decline

Unity has posted a 2% dip in revenue for the second quarter of 2024, reaching £358 million, down from £366 million in the previous quarter. Despite this slight decrease, the mobile game engine and infrastructure platform exceeded both its own guidance and analyst expectations.

Unity reported a net loss of £100 million for Q2, a significant reduction compared to the £232 million loss incurred in Q1. Restructuring and reorganisation costs were identified as the primary driver...

9 August 2024 | Development Tools

Artificial Agency emerges from stealth with AI ‘behaviour engine’

Artificial Agency – an AI startup focused on generative behaviour for gaming – has emerged from stealth mode with a $16 million funding round led by Radical Ventures, Toyota Ventures, and other notable investors.

The company, founded by former Google DeepMind researchers and AAA gaming industry veterans, aims to revolutionise game development with its AI-powered behaviour engine; designed to seamlessly integrate runtime decision-making into various aspects of...

18 July 2024 | Artificial Intelligence

Arm’s new upscaler promises PC-quality graphics on mobile

Arm has introduced an open-source solution aimed at enhancing graphics upscaling on mobile devices. The solution promises to bring PC-quality gaming experiences to smartphones while optimising performance and power consumption.

‘Arm Accuracy Super Resolution’ (Arm ASR) is a temporal upscaler, which combines information from multiple frames to generate high-quality images from lower resolution targets. This approach allows game developers to render graphics at lower resolutions...

12 July 2024 | API

Sam Altman’s blockchain project ‘World Chain’ opens to developers

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's Worldcoin project has launched a developer preview of World Chain, a new blockchain that claims to prioritise humans and scale with the growth of the Worldcoin ecosystem. 

World Chain – built on the OP Stack and integrated with the Worldcoin protocol – aims to provide developers with access to over 10 million users across 160 countries who are using compatible wallets, starting with the World App.

With the developer preview, the Worldcoin...

9 July 2024 | Blockchain