Microsoft announces free Pro version of Unity for Microsoft platforms

Just heard on the day 2 keynote that Unity Pro for Microsoft Windows 8, Phone 8, Xbox 360 and Xbox One will be free for Unity Pro users. Woohoo!

 

wow, was just telling me boss get ready to cough up another $1500...he'll be stoked.

 

Wow that is exciting news!

 

That is interesting

 

Sounds good to me!

 

Awesome for us. It fits within Microsoft's overall strategy de jour: Whoever has the most and best content will be the platform that the consumers gravitate to. It's the same trend I saw taking shape back in November and talked about HERE. The details have shifted only very slightly since then, and the picture continues to get clearer what's going on. Its nice to be the beneficiaries of a slugfest between the titans of the gaming world. Looks like I just got a free pro version of the Window's Store module.

 

Exciting news! We’ve entered into a partnership with Microsoft to bring all Unity Pro users the upcoming Pro Windows Store Add-on for free. This includes all the tools you need to deploy to Windows Store Apps and Windows Phone 8.
Additionally as part of this partnership, we will also develop tools for the Xbox One. This includes support for next-gen features like enhanced Kinect gestures and recognition, multiplayer matchmaking and SmartGlass.

Have a look at David's blog http://blogs.unity3d.com/2013/06/27/build-conference/

 

That's awesome.
However, the blog post is a little confusing especially this line.

From what I understand there were going to be two license add-ons. One for Windows Store (Windows 8 ) and another one for Windows Phone 8. Now from my understanding both of these deployment targets will be included in all Unity Pro licenses. I just think that this line in particular should either be redacted or reworded so that unannounced theoretical prices and half theoretical prices are not included.

Anyways, I'm VERY happy for this news and I'm excited for the full release.

 

I think it is just marketing fluff, I think what they are saying is that if you are a "future" user, you still have to fork out the 1,500, and they value the plugin at 1,500 so that would be 3,000 "worth of tech" that you are getting for 1,500 (half off).

You are right, they should pull it or at least word it better.

 

That's a great move by Unity Microsoft!

Btw, there is an ongoing promotion by Microsoft "Windows Phone Developer Registration Now For $19"

If you are planning to publish to WP8 I would suggest registering now and getting your account ready for add-on release...

http://blogs.windows.com/windows_ph...-publishing-apps-for-windows-phone-today.aspx

 

Bam. This has to mean that the PS4 unity license is also free for/bundled with Unity Pro license?

Bam. Who thinks PS4, XBONE, Ouya, Wii, Windows/Mac/Linux etc are the platform of the future? You're all wrong. It's called Unity 3D! Being able to deploy to so many platforms without/minor modifications totally levels the playing field and makes it possible to `write for Unity` and mostly forget all the other hassles of dealing with hardware. Unity is the platform of the future!

 

Agreed! Feeling very happy right as a Unity user Hope you are right about the PS4 license!

 

I have a very important question.

Does this mean we will be able to publish to the xbox official marketplace? (obviously with their stamp of approval)

Or does this mean it will be easier to publish to the Indy marketplace (which in my opinion is a complete waste of crap)

(If microsoft would open up for devs like the OUYA we wouldn't need the OUYA. When will they figure this out???)

 

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFfffffFFFFFFFFFFFFfff!

 

Super happy to be a unity user!!

 

Incredible.

 

Hrm

I assumed all pc games went through steam, didn't even know there was a Microsoft / windows 8 store.

 

Gaming was around looooooooooooooooooooooooooong before Steam.

 

Yep but Microsoft has been trying to banish gaming from PC to XBOX for ever now, or did they give up(I'm behind on politics)? I figured steam was the last bastion of hope.

 

Wot?? Is april 1th or something?? ... This can't be serious... Microsoft are not that kind of nice guys... ... ...
We won't need to pay UT $1500.00 for each platform license?!? I really do not believe this is true.

 

Will Windows Store Basic be free like mobile licenses?

 

Unless they tell us otherwise (highly doubtful), we can assume that what they said in this blog will still stand and we'll be getting Windows Phone 8 and Blackberry 10 basic licenses for free.

Along with that, this blog post seems to imply that the Windows Store and Windows Phone Store license is only 1 single license. Or at least that is how I read statements like this:

 

This is really amazing news and must be great for Unity. Giving free access to Windows store 8/phone add-on is a smart move and will ensure a large base of developers who can publish to it. The free add-ons for xbox 360 and XboxOne are nice, though you need to be published by MS to get them.

Overall though this partnership makes a huge amount of sense in my mind after what we saw from MS at E3, especially with so many games branching out into smart-glass and mobile add-ons. Having Unity as an engine to generate that content will be a huge boost for all developers, more so if the products end up going multi-platform (on MS devices).

 

It's not about being nice, it's strategy. They want to get developers developing for their store.

 

great news.

 

According to gamesindustry.biz Xbox One licences are only free for developers publishing through Microsoft Studios (which means a publishing contract).

Seeing as Microsoft are dropping indy-level self-publishing, this may not the golden chalice you are likely hoping for.

Publishing to Windows Store isn't much clearer - it doesn't cost anything to publish to the Mac App Store, so what is so different with Microsoft's store front?

Edit: Note that I'm not knocking Unity's pricing scheme, that's their business to work out: I'm reflecting on Microsoft's increasing insistence of over-complicating everything.

 

David Helgason is now officially 5 popped collars cool...

 

I almost asked him once if he bought his shirts jackets with collars pre-popped. I was imagining a Bladerunner-esque fashion store somewhere in Sweden

 

Wow, thats cool, now I'm going to have to dual boot my Mac.

 

Actually you do have to pay a $99 subscription fee to publish to the Mac App Store, there's really little difference, though it does seem Windows 8 Store's subscription only costs about $50 (it's telling me £32 right now). I've actually found that signing up to MS's app stores is less complicated than Apple's, it took much more faff to set up my iOS developer account than my Windows Phone one. Really not that complicated at all.

 

And what's the best way to get noticed by Microsoft? That's right. Make an amazing game and get it published on the MS Store.

 

Sign up fees are administrative, they're non-issues: This is about the hassles of getting onto their platforms in the first place. The fact that MS have made "Windows Store" a different software platform to "Windows" is mind boggling, and not allowing independents to publish on Xbox One is a kick in the teeth for those same indies who kept the 360 in the news so much -- bearing in mind that all the Indy gaming chatter in media is a dividend even if the Indy market isn't as successful on the balance sheet, you have to question what on earth is going through their minds these days.

 

I'll just turn around and mention this to the guys here

There'll be much laughter, some sarcastic remarks, some reminiscing, and then we'll get back to work.

We have a publishing record of 10:1 PS3:XBox, purely because getting on Xbox just isn't worth the trouble. Mind you, they've stopped charging tens of thousands of dollars to certify updates now, so that's nice.

Sorry...bad memories day

This IS good news, I don't want to take away from that ;-)

 

Go and ask Phil Fish and many other devs about their experience with MS Studios...

 

There's no more hassle getting onto the Windows Store platform than the Mac App Store platform. They're both separate platforms to the legacy desktop application platforms, OSX doesn't provide a new interface for it but it's still a separate platform, as highlighted by the amount of people having to buy the same versions of various software again through the Mac App Store because the developers have stopped doing bug fixes for the non-Mac App Store versions.

Xbox One has the exact same attitude to independents as every console before it, they haven't "kicked indies off" as much as not (yet?) started the equivalent of the highly criticized "wild west" of Xbox Indie Games. Sony have stepped up to provide self-publishing on the PS4 but that is the exception, not the rule here and while it allows self-publishing it will still require developers and their games to be approved by Sony. It's certainly not going to be like the mobile and desktop app stores on any mainstream console platform. Indies can still have their games released on the Xbox One, it just requires a publishing agreement just like getting games onto XBLA on the 360 did. I think the distinction here is that they are letting indie developers on the platform but they aren't yet providing a way for bedroom/garage/small-time developers to just chuck whatever they want on it.

 

I hope so

 

This is due to certification, not the nuts and bolts of the software you've written.

Pick the first sentence from the second paragraph in the MSDN blog "Porting to Windows 8 Store":

"When you port your desktop apps to Windows store apps, the first thing you should do is to evaluate your desktop application to find out the reusable parts. Actually, not all of the code can be reused."

Translation: Make sure you have some aspirin to hand, because it's about to go downhill.

Sony allows self publishing on PS3 and Vita. I know, because we've done both 1st party and self publishing on both platforms (to be clear, we're talking XBLA vs PSN here - boxed product is a different thing altogether).

What was the first thing that happened with Sony when we approached them? They sent us kit, on perpetual loan - PS3 dev kits, debug kits, Vita kits. They don't mess around; they want games and they go out of their way to help get them onto their platforms: Independent is not the same as "Indy", which is the distinction MS have (we're a very small independent, we're not "Indy" in the art sense).

 

Yes.

 

I was thinking of getting the metro license, however i'm completely dumbfounded about the xbox xbox1 being free, will they still require sdk agreement or is that fully free as in free beer? Would be beyond awesome

 

Wait, as I understand it it's just the Windows Store module that will be free for base Pro customers, not Xbox One deployment and stuff like that. Am I wrong?

 

You are mostly correct, with the exception being if you're able to get a publishing deal with Microsoft Studios for either Xbox 360 or Xbox One, then you get the Unity tools for free.

From the blog:

EDIT: beaten by superpig. Need to learn to type faster...

 

Ah, yes thank you. Should've read the blog more carefully.

 

Oh well, still a very nice deal!

 

In other words: not actually free since MS Studios contracts are very hard to get, they get a significant cut, and demand platform exclusivity for a considerably long amount of time.

 

Smart move Unity!!

Thank You !

 

Ok, great, but if the next version still doesn't support Windows 8 multi-touch I think I am going to:*,#•. • *. •

 

You mean being a complete titter, knowing full well up front you have to pay, then moaning you're paying? how's that work?

I know, I'll go to Tescos, check the price of a tin of beans then when I get to the checkout say: oh erm, I don't really want to pay a quid for that tin of beans. I think I'll complain about you on my blog!

 

Fish's attitude aside, it simple shows that MS is all, but indie friendly. There are many other complaints from people who worked with them.

But if you're cool with that go ahead and get a deal with them.