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Unity 2018.1 Engine is available, allows devs to achieve beautiful graphics & high-end performance

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Unity Technologies, creator of the world’s most widely-used real-time 3D development platform, announced today that Unity 2018.1 is now available. Unity 2018.1 is a major upgrade which introduces the start of several innovations, including the Scriptable Render Pipelines and the C# Job System, which make it easier and faster to achieve beautiful graphics and high-end performance.

Brett Bibby, VP of Engineering, Unity Technologies, said:

“With Unity 2018.1 we are introducing one of the largest upgrades in the history of our company, and it’s centered around two major concepts – next-level rendering and performance by default. We have brought the world’s best talent together with the goal of making Unity 2018 the premier choice for all creators, from high-end studios to individuals experimenting with the boundaries of what’s possible and everything in between.”

Unity 2018.1 is the start of a new cycle that enhances Unity’s core technology and gives creators the power to express their talents and collaborate more efficiently. The foundation is built upon the start of two new innovations: the Scriptable Render Pipelines and the Entity Component System. Together they make it easier for creators to deliver beautiful graphics, while unlocking the performance of modern hardware to make richer experiences possible.

Unity 2018.1 introduces more than 330 new features, innovations and improvements. Highlights include:

  • Scriptable Render Pipelines (Preview) – Experience total control of Unity’s powerful rendering pipeline. Developers targeting high-end experiences can take advantage of the High-Definition Render Pipeline (HD RP), while the Lightweight Render Pipeline (LW RP) can be used for a powerful combination of beauty and speed, all while optimizing battery life for mobile devices and similar platforms.
  • Entity Component System (ECS) and the C# Job System (Preview) – A new high-performance multithreaded system that makes it possible to take advantage of multi-core processors without the heavy programming headache. The new programming model, the Entity Component System, combined with the C# Job System and the Burst Compiler enables developers to optimize creations for significant increases in performance. Developers can add more effects and complexity to their games, or use that horsepower to add dynamic AI, to make rich worlds that immerse gamers.
  • New Features Make it Easier for Teams of Artists, Designers and Developers to Collaborate More Efficiently – Unity 2018.1 makes it easier for teams to create levels, cinematic content and gameplay sequences without coding. ProBuilder and Polybrush offer new ways to design levels, Cinemachine Storyboard lets creators previs, storyboard and edit inside of Unity, while the Visual Shader Graph gives artists the power to design shaders without the need for programming skills.
  • Support for the Latest Platforms – Unity solves the hard problems of development, enabling creators to reach 25+ platforms easier. Thanks to strategic partnerships with the world’s greatest innovators, Unity now offers optimized support for Magic Leap One, Oculus Go and Daydream Standalone. Unity currently powers more than 60% of the world’s VR/AR content and more than 50% of all new mobile experiences.

As the press release reads, Unity 2018 is the premier choice for all creators and it exists to democratize development, solve hard problems and enable success. The company’s engineers and artists, many of whom hail from the world’s leading game studios such as Insomniac, Bungie, and Naughty Dog, are working alongside the company’s 800 engineer team responsible for bringing the technology that will power the real-time revolution to all developers around the world. Games and experiences made with Unity reached more than 3 billion devices worldwide in 2017 and were installed more than 24 billion times in the last 12 months.

Unity will be showcasing the latest innovations for Unity 2018 during Unite Berlin (June 19 – 21). More than two thousand attendees will take part in an event that demonstrates how Unity powers the world’s best mobile experiences, unlocks next level rendering and enhances high-end performance. Unity will also debut its vision for democratizing connected gaming experiences, powered by its recent acquisition of Multiplay. Additionally, Unity will go into more detail on developers can leverage the Unity Editor to build smaller, faster, lighter experiences for web and lightweight devices on the company’s new compressed core runtime.

Unity 2018.1 - New Features