Unity announces new collaboration tool, moves Analytics out of beta

By Danny Cowan March 15, 2016

unity unveils cloud powered collaboration tool unityaxiom header — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Unity Technologies is now accepting closed beta applications for Unity Collaborate, a cloud-powered service that offers “a simple way for small teams to save, share, and sync their Unity project.”

The service aims to optimize productivity and minimize mis-communication for teams working on a shared project, allowing all team members to see changes and additions in real time.

Unity Collaborate closed beta participants are given 15GB of cloud storage space via Amazon Web Services for their projects. Unity Collaborate in its current state supports teams of up to 15 members in size, and users can import existing Unity projects in order to continue production using collaborative input.

Unity Collaborate’s closed beta launch arrives alongside this week’s release of “fully stable” 5.3.4 and 5.4 beta versions of the company’s engine. Users experimenting with the new 5.4 beta version of Unity can expect to see a new lightmapping tool that employs PowerVR raytracing technology, allowing developers to see how lighting works in a created environment without pre-calculation.

“We remain focused on democratizing development, solving hard problems and enabling success,” Unity CEO John Riccitiello said in a statement released today. “I’m proud of the success that Unity has achieved in the last year. To achieve 30-percent share of the top 1,000 grossing games is unprecedented and a testament to the creativity of developers using Unity.”

Unity also announced a new progress milestone for its Analytics toolset today, pushing the service out of beta and making it available to all licensed developers. Currently featured in more than 60,000 games, Unity Analytics offers developers “heatmaps, data exploration, and integration of in-app purchasing for multiple app stores including newly added support for Amazon Appstore, Samsung Galaxy Apps, and Tizen Store.”

Today’s wave of Unity announcements additionally sees the launch of the Unity Certification Program, a comprehensive instructional course and exam that allows employers to quickly assess employee skills and experience with the Unity engine. Unity Technologies will offer certification-oriented courseware later this year.

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