As VRFocus have previously covered, Unity Technologies were discussing their future plans for the Unity engine during their keynote at GDC. It was confirmed that Unity 5.6 will be the final release of ver. 5, but they also provided a sneak peek at the next iteration.
John Riccitiello, CEO of Unity Technologies had the following to say; “Features like Physically Based Rendering, Global Illumination, and Codeless IAP are just a few of the advancements that have helped make Unity 5, and the community it powers, so successful.”
Unity 2017, the successor to Unity 5, which will feature a large range of improvements and added features and Unity have promised it will be further geared towards non-programmers, with a range of features designed for artists and designers.
Some Unity partners also announced new opportunities in the global market for Unity developers. Xiaomi, one of the biggest Android handset manufacturers in China, is offering access to the Chinese market for western developers via their Xiaomi-Unity Developer Portal.
Facebook’s gaming platform Facebook Gameroom Premium also announced it would be integrating Unity 5.6 support into its platform, including Facebook payment support.
Unity 5.6 will become available on March 31st 2017, while the Beta for Unity 2017 is expected in April.
VRFocus will keep you up to date with further news from Unity and GDC.