GDC 2011: Unity Releases Unity Android

Author: by Staff

Unity Technologies announced the release of the Unity Android add-on for its development platform, enabling game developers to port their Unity-based projects to Android devices. Supporting traditional consoles (Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3), the web, and iOS, Unity is meant to serve as a single authoring environment for 3D games and other interactive content across all compatible platforms. The company says that developers can port their games, including iOS titles, to Android with a single click. Unity for Android features an integrated editor for deploying a single project to multiple platforms, support for upcoming Android devices (e.g. Tegra Tablets and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Smartphone), an optimized graphics pipeline or OpenGL ES 2.0, and the ability to use an Android phone as an input device to view and test projects directly. Since Unity Technologies introduced a preview release for Unity Pro Android last year, participating developers have created nearly 50 games with the platform, including popular App Store releases like Battle Bears, Castle Warriors, Doodle Bowling, Drift Mania Championship, and Samurai II: Vengeance. "Our Pro-only pre-release version has already been a huge success in its first half year," says Unity Technologies' chief creative officer Nicholas Francis. "Now we’re doing the full launch of our product and can’t wait to see what kind of amazing things people will develop. I think getting Unity out to the Android developer base will vastly improve the range of quality games on the platform." With the Android add-on release, Unity Technologies revealed new figures for its platform and pointed out that over 400,000 developers are now using Unity, including major firms like Bigpoint, Cartoon Network, Disney, Electronic Arts, and Ubisoft -- many studios, independent developers, and students also use the platform. Unity Technologies noted that its Unity Web Player for viewing 3D content in browsers has now been installed 45 million times, too. On the iOS side, the company claims that its platform is the most widely used middleware for the App Store, estimating that around 25 percent of developers there are using Unity. Furthermore, Union -- Unity Technologies' business unit dedicated to syndicating 3D games on mobile phones, set-top boxes, connected TVs, and other new platforms -- has seen more than 1000 developers behind over 1000 Unity-authored titles register their interest. Union will release its first wave of titles this summer. This week's Game Developers Conference is holding its first Unity sponsored tutorial today, offering a crash course on the platform to attendees, at Room 123 in the North Hall from 10am to 6:15pm.