Unity Software Inc.
09/23/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/23/2024 14:47
Unite 2024: Celebrating with our community, a look ahead, and the 16th Unity Awards
Unite 2024 in Barcelona has wrapped, and what an event it was! Over three action-packed days, more than 2,000 developers, studios, and partners came together to celebrate game development. From the high-energy Keynote to deep-dive breakout sessions anchored by the Unity Engine Roadmap, attendees had the chance to explore new products and features, learn from expert-led sessions, and connect with fellow developers.
It was fantastic to meet so many of you in person. We'll keep the momentum going by continuing to engage with you IRL and online - you can stay updated through our Events Hub and Unity Discussions. A huge thank you to everyone who participated and to our sponsors for making this event possible. Let's keep building amazing games together!
Unite attendees at the Welcome Reception
Unite attendees at the Welcome Reception
Highlighting Made with Unity devs
Our amazing community of Made with Unity creators continue to show all of us what's possible by bringing their games and experiences to players around the world. This year at Unite, we showcased 20 developers in our U/Game area so attendees could try out their projects.
Folks attending the event got early access to upcoming titles including Stampede: Racing Royale (Sumo Digital / Secret Mode), Starship Home (Creature), and Lost Skies (Bossa Studios). The teams behind Silica (Martin "Dram" Melichárek), Worldless (Noname Studios), Void Crew (Hutlihut Games), Synth Riders (Kluge Interactive), Lost Skies (Bossa Studios), Stampede: Racing Royale (Sumo Digital), and Phasmophobia (Kinetic Games) were also on hand to show off their games and chat with other developers. In our mobile showcase area, people were able to pick up and play games such as MONOPOLY GO! (Scopely), Paper Trails (Newfangled Games), and Marvel Contest of Champions (Kabam), as well as interact with some social impact creators (and former Unity for Humanity grant winners) who were showcasing The Light Within (Pomsky Games), KATOA: Oceans (Sankari Studios), Boddle Learning (Boddle), and Amaru (Six Wing Studios).
To keep the party going for those who couldn't join us live in Barcelona, we streamed live on Twitch throughout the entire show. We had a great time chatting with the community about new games and building in Unity. We also brought some experts in to share best practices and new developments in multiplayer creation, graphics, lighting, collaboration, web, AI, and more.
Last but not least, we had a blast hanging out with you, playing games and giving away complimentary keys to play later. Watch the replay and let us know where you'd like to learn more. Special thanks to our special guests from SLOW BROS., Scopely, Playable Worlds, Kinetic Studio, and Turbo Makes Games.
Attendees playing MWU games
Attendees playing MWU games
The Unity Engine Roadmap
We dove into future updates and releases of the Unity Engine in front of a packed auditorium. The Roadmap was a chance to return to our roots by giving you insight into what's next for Unity.
We introduced the concept of a generational release, which will allow us to predictably deliver new capabilities within a generation that can easily be incorporated into existing projects. We then went into more details about the next version of the Unity Engine being released within the Unity 6 generation: the Unity 6.1 Update.
The Unity 6.1 Update will include much-requested features like foldable and large screen support, optimized Deferred+ rendering in GPU Resident Drawer, a new build profile for Meta Quest, and a build target for Facebook Instant Games. We will share more as we get closer to its release in early 2025, and we will continue to support Unity 6 for as long as necessary to better serve our customers.
While we're excited about the possibilities Unity 6 opens up for you, we also revealed that we're hard at work building the NEXT generation of the Unity Engine, working on core principles of simplicity, iteration speed, and power - all aimed at helping all of you to make your visions real:
Simplicity: Reduce the complexity within the Unity Editor and make the default choice the best choice. Whether it's a single unified renderer, an easy-to-use set of UI tools, or streamlined multiplayer, our first priority is to make workflows simpler for you.
Iteration speed: Implement your vision with fewer roadblocks and greater efficiency so you can go for those stretch targets that once felt out of reach.
Power: New tooling to scale your game projects, hit your target framerate, reach your chosen platforms, and build larger, richer worlds for your players.
We're still a ways off, but we want to hear from you - what are you most excited about? Let us know by joining in on the Unite 2024 Roadmap Discussion, and be sure to watch the live session replay on YouTube.
Brand-new dev resources coming with Unity 6 at launch
We're prioritizing creating learning materials that help you maximize your success on Unity, and we've got resources galore to help you explore what's possible with Unity 6.
Learn more about how Unity 6 was used in Fantasy Kingdom in Unity 6, Megacity Metro, and Time Ghost. We'll provide you with samples, demos, and scenes to show you how to get the most out of your project alongside the release of Unity 6 on October 17, 2024. And don't forget to bookmark your favorite technical guides and e-books as we continue to update them to better reflect the new capabilities in Unity 6.
Fantasy Kingdom in Unity 6 optimized for mobile
Fantasy Kingdom in Unity 6 optimized for mobile
Summits covering monetization, industry, and education
Outside of the main event, we also had dedicated programming for customers and users across Appfest, the Industry Executive Summit, and the Education and Industry Mixer. These events let us connect with you based on what interests you most.
A few highlights include:
Top mobile game and app leaders gathered for Appfest, a two-day event, to network, share knowledge and best practices, and help advance the industry as a whole.
The Industry Executive Summit brought together leaders from companies like Deutsche Bahn, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Icon Group, BMW, and Capgemini to share compelling stories of how they're leveraging Unity's platform to solve real-world challenges. Above all, the summit demonstrated how Unity's evolving platform is meeting diverse industry needs to drive innovation and growth across sectors.
We partnered with the local university, Universitat de Barcelona, to host the Education and Industry Mixer Meetup, where nearly 100 local students mingled with game developers to have fun, play games, and learn about careers in gaming.
Appfest attendees networking between sessions
Appfest attendees networking between sessions
Industry Executive Summit panel discussion
Industry Executive Summit panel discussion
16th Unity Awards
Your voice matters! Following the reveal of our 16th Unity Awards nominees, head over to the official Unity Awards voting page to support your favorite games, Asset Store publishers, and community creators. Each vote helps us shine a spotlight on the incredible talent and hard work within the Unity community. Voting closes on October 4 at 11 pm CET, so don't miss your chance to vote for your favorites.
Another reason this year's awards ceremony is extra special is that it's the first time the Unity Awards showcase will feature a livestream event. We're thrilled to not only celebrate the achievements of our community but also share some news and updates from upcoming Unity games. Join us on October 23, 2024, at 7 pm CET for an event dedicated to the creators who have made some of your favorite games of this past year (and years to come).
An amazing event like this would not be possible without our incredible customers, community, partners, and sponsors. Follow all the latest Unity happenings on Unity Discussions or on Discord, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitch. On-demand session recordings from Unite 2024 will be available soon on YouTube.