Unity Technologies

Unity Technologies SF
Formerly called
  • Over the Edge I/S (2004–2006)
  • Unity Technologies ApS (2006–2009)
Private
Industry Computer software, Interactive entertainment
Founded August 2, 2004 (2004-08-02) in Copenhagen, Denmark
Headquarters San Francisco, California, U.S.[1]
Products Unity game engine
Services Unity Certification, Unity Collaborate, Unity Asset Store, Unity Ads, Unity Cloud Build, Unity Analytics, Unity Everyplay, Unity Multiplayer, Unity Performance Reporting[2]
Number of employees
 1000+ (2016)[3]
Website unity3d.com

Unity Technologies SF is the developer of Unity, one of the most popular licensed game engines. It was founded on 2 August 2004 as Over the Edge I/S, and became Unity Technologies ApS in 2006. It moved its headquarters to San Francisco and became "Unity Technologies SF" in 2009.

History

Unity Technologies was founded in 2004 by David Helgason (CEO), Nicholas Francis (CCO), and Joachim Ante (CTO) in Copenhagen, Denmark after their first game, GooBall, failed to gain success. The three recognized the value in engine and tools development and set out to create an engine developed in-house that any and all could use for an affordable price. Unity Technologies has received funding from the likes of Sequoia Capital, WestSummit Capital, and iGlobe Partners.[4]

The company's focus is to "democratize game development" and make development of 2D and 3D interactive content as accessible as possible to as many people around the world as possible.[4] In 2008, with the rise of the iPhone, Unity was one of the first engine developers to begin supporting the platform in full. Unity now supports 24 platforms, including Oculus Rift, PlayStation 4 and Linux.[5]

In 2010 IBM started exploring Unity 3D based browser plug-ins, as a way to access 3D virtual worlds from within a Web browser.

In April 2012, Unity reportedly had 1 million registered developers, 300,000 of which used Unity on a regular monthly basis.[6] In April 2015, the number of reported registered developers reached 4,5 million, with 1 million monthly active users.[7] 47% of all mobile game developers use Unity.[8]

On 10 November 2010, the Unity Asset Store launched as an online marketplace for Unity users to sell project assets (artwork, code systems, audio, etc.) to each other.[9] By April 2014, it had 600,000 registered users who downloaded about 500,000 assets per month. According to some estimates, this has saved game developers about $1 billion in the previous year.[10]

Unity acquired Applifier, a mobile service provider, in March 2014. Applifier's Everyplay, the game replay sharing and community service, became Unity Everyplay. The acquisition also meant that Applifier's mobile video ad network, GameAds, became Unity Ads. Unity CEO David Helgason pitched the acquisition as a part of the company's drive to deliver tools that can make the community more successful and arm developers with an authentic way to connect with passionate gamers.[11]

Two more acquisitions followed later in 2014: Playnomics, a data analysis platform for developers (now Unity Analytics), and Tsugi, who has been working on a continuous integration service, now known as Unity Cloud Build.[12][13]

In October 2014, Helgason announced in a blog post that he would be stepping down as CEO with John Riccitiello, EA's former CEO, replacing him. Helgason will remain in the company as Executive Vice President.[14][15]

Unity acquired SilkCloud, a Shanghai-based ecommerce developer, in August 2015. SilkCloud is working on infrastructure for Unity's web based services.[16]

Unity held Vision Summit 2016 in February 2016, a VR/AR conference with the intent of "furthering the knowledge base of anyone developing virtual and/or augmented reality content".[17] At the event, Unity announced its partnership with Steam VR and Google Cardboard. The company's VR/AR division, Unity Labs,[18] was also announced alongside the in-VR scene editor.

At GDC 16, Unity announced two new product lines: Unity Certification to facilitate developers in demonstrating their skill and knowledge within Unity; and Unity Collaborate which allows multiple people to access the same Unity project remotely.[19]

Reception

In 2012, VentureBeat wrote: "Few companies have contributed as much to the flowing of independently produced games as Unity Technologies. The maker of a 3D-graphics game development platform, Unity 3D, got its start in Copenhagen, and now it is based in San Francisco. More than 1.3 million developers are using its tools to create gee-whiz graphics in their iOS, Android, console, PC, and web-based games. The pattern here? Unity wants to be the engine for multiplatform games, period."[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Unity - Fast Facts". Unity Technologies. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  2. ↑ "Unity - Services". Unity Technologies. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  3. ↑ "Unite Europe 2016 - Closing Remarks: A Fireside chat with David Helgason". Unity Technologies. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Unity Technologies Lands $12 Million in Series B Funding Led by WestSummit Capital and iGlobe Partners".
  5. ↑ "Unity - Multiplatform". Unity Technologies. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Unity Technologies marks one million developers for its game development tools". Polygon.
  7. ↑ "Unity - Company Facts". Unity Technologies. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "Developer Economics Q3 2014: State of the Developer Nation". Vision Mobile. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "Unite 2010: Tech outfit introduces in-engine marketplace". Develop Online. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  10. ↑ "The billion-dollar game dev trading post". Polygon. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  11. ↑ "Unity to acquire Everyplay creator Applifier". Pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  12. ↑ "Unity Technologies Bulks Up On Utilities With Acquisition Of Playnomics". Forbes.com. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  13. ↑ "Unity details new Cloud Build service; opens Unity Austin". Forbes.com. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  14. ↑ Riccitiello, John (23 October 2014). "John Riccitiello sets out to identify the engine of growth for Unity Technologies (interview)". VentureBeat (Interview). Interview with Dean Takahashi. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  15. ↑ "John Riccitiello is New Ceo at Unity". IGN. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  16. ↑ "SilkCloud Update". SilkCloud. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  17. ↑ "Vision VR/AR Summit". visionsummit2016.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  18. ↑ Technologies, Unity. "Articles | labs.unity.com". labs.unity.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  19. ↑ "Unity - Unity Launches Two New Versions, Unity Collaborate Feature and the Unity Developer Certification Program". unity3d.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  20. ↑ Helgason, David (2 November 2012). "Game developers, start your Unity 3D engines". GamesBeat (Interview). Interview with Dean Takahashi. VentureBeat. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
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