Unity rejects AppLovin’s bumper takeover bid

Game development platform Unity has rejected a large takeover bid from mobile technology firm AppLovin.

AppLovin offered to acquire Unity in an all-stock deal worth $17.5 billion. However, the offer came with the stipulation that Unity drops its own bid for ironSource.

IronSource and AppLovin both offer services to help developers grow and monetise their apps.

Unity’s acquisition of ironSource would provide the latter with a significant advantage in both...

16 August 2022 | Development Tools

Unity CEO apologises for calling some game devs ‘the biggest fucking idiots’

Unity CEO John Riccitiello has apologised for a recent interview in which he called some game developers “the biggest fucking idiots”.

Pocket Gamer was interviewing Riccitiello about the game development platform’s merger with monetisation and distribution specialists ironSource when he made the comment.

Here’s the part of the interview in question (emphasis ours):

Pocket Gamer: Implementing monetisation earlier in the process and conversation is...

19 July 2022 | Gaming

Game developer criticises NFTs at event sponsored by blockchain firms

A game developer surprised attendees of an event sponsored by blockchain firms by criticising NFTs.

NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) have become one of the blockchain industry’s darling use cases. The technology is primarily associated with art projects; with purchasers able to prove their ownership thanks to immutable records on blockchains.

Arguably, the most infamous NFT project is Bored Ape Yacht Club—which even recently featured in a music video by Eminem and Snoop...

13 July 2022 | Blockchain

Project Moorcraft: Xbox will pay game developers to publish demos

Xbox has unveiled Project Moorcraft, an initiative to boost the demos available on Game Pass while helping developers to earn some bucks.

This month is when game developers and fans usually flock to the E3 Expo to see the latest game reveals and platform updates and get their hands on early previews of upcoming titles.

E3 was put on hold during the pandemic and all the major gaming players switched to virtual events for their big reveals. Unfortunately, that meant lining...

9 June 2022 | Gaming

ARCore Geospatial API helps developers build immersive experiences

During I/O 2022, Google launched its ARCore Geospatial API to help developers build more immersive, richer, and more useful experiences.

Augmented reality experiences are beginning to gain traction beyond Pokémon Go. Now there are AR apps for making floorplans, seeing how furnishings will look in your home, understanding the world around you, and even getting real-time information about the night sky.

Google showed off enhancements to its own AR solution, Lens, during...

12 May 2022 | Android

Epic Games raises $2B a week after Unreal Engine 5’s release

Epic Games has raised $2 billion in a funding round just a week after its release of Unreal Engine 5.

Epic – known for its hit titles, popular game engine, and high-profile spats with Apple – says the funding will support its continued growth and vision to build the metaverse.

Tim Sweeney, CEO and Founder of Epic Games, said:

“As we reimagine the future of entertainment and play we need partners who share our vision. We have found this in our partnership...

12 April 2022 | Development Tools

The Coalition celebrates Unreal Engine 5’s release with impressive demo

Game studio The Coalition has celebrated Epic’s launch of Unreal Engine 5 with an impressive tech demo.

The demo shows off Unreal Engine 5’s most exciting new features, including Nanite and Lumen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qbffi8abOg

Nanite is Unreal Engine 5's virtualised geometry system. According to Kate Rayner, Technical Director at The Coalition, Nanite allows for over 100x the detail that was previously possible.

“Our artists can create...

6 April 2022 | Development Tools

Unity says PSVR2 takes VR gaming ‘to a whole new level’

Unity held a ‘Building Next-Gen Games for PSVR2’ session at this year’s Game Developers Conference and the company appears to be as excited as many developers about the upcoming VR hardware.

"PSVR2 takes VR gaming to a whole new level, enabling a greater sense of presence and allowing players to immerse themselves into game worlds like never before", says Bria Williams, Senior Product Manager at Unity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ2bCnX5Sh0

The original...

1 April 2022 | Gaming

Microsoft says developers have earned $2.5B through ID@Xbox

According to Microsoft, game developers have made a fair chunk of change through its ID@Xbox program.

ID@Xbox is the gaming brand’s program to support independent developers and has been used to publish titles including Dead by Daylight, Warframe, SMITE, Dead Cells, Spelunky 2, The Long Dark, Kerbal Space Program, Human Fall Flat, Overcooked, Grim Dawn, Outer Wilds, and thousands of others.

Needless to say, ID@Xbox has been rather successful. The program has enabled...

29 March 2022 | Gaming

Niantic acquires WebAR experts 8th Wall to expand metaverse platform

Niantic is continuing its evolution from an AR game developer to a complete platform for building metaverse experiences.

Once upon a time, Niantic was an exciting but relatively unknown company behind the pioneering (and highly underrated) AR game Ingress. Niantic then released Pokemon Go and was catapulted into the spotlight.

The hype around Pokemon Go may have faded but Niantic hasn’t stopped working. The company has been using its experience in live, large-scale AR...

11 March 2022 | Development Tools