Question The amount of time it takes to develop new features

From the standpoint of a regular user, it seems like Unity Technologies takes longer than other big names in the game engine industry to put out new features and get everything ready for production.

I've always wondered why that's the case. As an example, let's focus on SRP/URP since this Blitz day is all about Graphics. As far as I know, SRP has been around since 2017, which was the first time I ever heard of it.

Why does it take more than 6 years to finish something like that?

 

Thanks for sharing the link!

I feel like the "takes longer than others" issue applies to almost all of the features Unity Technologies has been working on for the past ten years. Sorry if I didn't clarify that clearly enough in my initial message.

Could you give some insight into why Unity Technologies seems to take longer than its competitors to get features ready for production? It seems like this isn't just an issue with one project but is more ingrained in the company's DNA.

 

Completely agree. I think the overhead of development in unity has been too massive.
Too much. Multiple platform * multiple engine version * multiple srp = Joy. Maybe reduce the built you need to support to only LTS would help? I don't see why tech stream like the .1 need to receive further update and bug fixes.

 

I suspect that technical barriers are not the leading cause of why Unity is slow to ship and finish features.

Could it be the corporate culture?Think of all the advancements made by their competitor during the past two years … and now try to find a sense of urgency at Unity, a recognition that an existential threat exists. I don’t see it, but this is just my opinion.

 

Well considering the point most people recognise as Unity becoming really slow to develop features is roughly 10 years ago, let's consider what events happened at Unity almost 10 years ago and then put 2 and 2 together.

 

What exactly happened at Unity Technologies about 10 years ago?

Spoiler: ChatGPT said to this question

Ten years ago, in 2011, Unity Technologies, the leading platform for creating and operating real-time 3D (RT3D) content, experienced several significant events and milestones. Here are some notable happenings during that period:

1. Funding and Investment: In November 2011, Unity Technologies announced it had secured $12 million in funding from WestSummit Capital and iGlobe Partners. This investment was aimed at expanding Unity's operations and further developing their technology.
   
   
2. Unity 3.0 Release: Unity 3.0, a major update to Unity's game development engine, was released in October 2011. This version introduced various new features, enhancements, and improved integration with other platforms.
   
   
3. Unity Asset Store Launch: The Unity Asset Store, an online marketplace for Unity developers to buy and sell assets, tools, and plugins, was officially launched in November 2010. By 2011, it had gained significant popularity among Unity's developer community, providing a hub for sharing and monetizing game assets.
   
   
4. Expansion and Acquisitions: Unity Technologies expanded its presence by opening new offices globally. In 2011, they established offices in Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo, Japan. Additionally, Unity made several strategic acquisitions to further strengthen its capabilities, including the purchase of award-winning audio technology company, Audiokinetic.
   
   
5. Collaboration with Major Companies: Unity Technologies formed collaborations and partnerships with major companies in the gaming and technology industries. Notably, Unity partnered with Sony Computer Entertainment to support game development for the PlayStation platforms, including the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.
   

These events demonstrate the growth and development Unity Technologies experienced in 2011, as it continued to establish itself as a leading game development platform.

 

think you've gotten a bit exact. Roughly ten years ago = new CEO...

 

My suspicion is that the new CEO uncorked Joachim's ambitions, took him off a leash and he went hog wild trying to bring Unity to Unreal competitor status for IPO rep gains, rather than focusing on what it's uniquely positioned to be.

Financially, this seems to have worked for Unity, as is the new AI claims.

The move to focusing on SRP and DOTS should have been for a different, newer engine so that Builtin and all the other old systems didn't have to suffer atrophy and things like Mobile, VR and other constrained devices and environments (web!) could get an optimal, optimised, slimmer and improved version of the old that "just works" and the new beaut could be a you beaut brute for the next wave of generalist game development.

As it is, we've got neither. SRP is hobbled by nothing being ready for it (Animation, Audio, UI etc), DOTS is further hobbled by nothing being ready to work with it and exploit itself, and Builtin and other legacy stuff has been absolutely neglected.

 

I'm still using built-in and my knowledge of the other pipelines and DOTS is limited. If a dev commits to URP + DOTS, does this prevent animation, audio, or the new ui from actually working? What are the challeges devs are facing?

 

Almost none of the other (ageing and neglected) systems of Unity are DOTS/Burst/Jobs optimised.

Nor ECS integrated, at all.

There were several new systems planned to be built on top of these, and integrated with ECS, which is why the ageing systems have been neglected. Almost none of these new systems have come to fruition, despite them being prime fodder for benefiting from an ECS and DOTS approach... eg:

Animation and Audio - the two most important and significant, in my mind.

But also UI and Post Processing could be considered massively significant, and not done, nor seemingly even begun to be conceived from an ECS and DOTS point of view.

But the biggest challenges probably remain in the simpler stuff... URP isn't finished and ECS/DOTS means all new approaches to everything, and a total rewrite of your game, or going hybrid and never being sure if it's you or them that's gotten things screwy.

I keep trying URP and running back to the Builtin hills and grasslands at each major showstopper. And I like the way ECS paradigms and processes work and think, but Unity's version is the most verbose and messily engineered I've seen. Almost makes the New Input System seem elegant in comparison.

 

In my opinion it's a side effect of making a feature available for testing and feedback as early as possible. If you read up on the development of new features in Unreal Engine for example they don't make them available until they're practically ready for use.

Nanite is my favorite example of this as the main developer behind it mentioned spending more than three years in full time development and a decade in personal research prior to that. Yet it was basically unheard of until about a year before it's release.

 

I'm sorry, what? Never heard of this, do you have any source? Last I checked, Sony bought Audiokinetic and they did it in 2019.

Unity 3 was released in 2010, not 2011.
ChatGPT is still garbage.

 

I don't, it's an answer that ChatGPT generated

 

Ten years ago in 2011… bravo chatgpt, truly we are mere steps away from sentience