Unity and Microsoft forge cloud partnership to empower creators around the world with Azure

Recently, Microsoft and Unity officially announced their cooperation , and will establish a cloud partnership in the future to use Azure to empower digital creators, 3D artists and game developers around the world.

Unity will integrate art tools such as Wētā Digital and Ziva into Microsoft Azure to popularize advanced machine learning and procedural creation tools in gaming, media, film and other use cases. At the same time, this partnership will also make it easier for Unity creators to reach players on Windows and Xbox, opening up new opportunities for success.

The following are the messages from Unity and Microsoft on this cooperation.

Message from Microsoft

Microsoft has always promised to empower creators. Throughout the history of Windows, we've nurtured developers and nurtured their innovations. We are also consistent with the Xbox brand, supporting development teams large and small in more than 90 countries around the world. The Azure cloud allows developers to unleash their imaginations, ensuring the security and scalability of their work.

Unity, the global leader in real-time 3D technology, shares our commitment to creators as a new long-term partner. We are also committed to expanding the creation and dissemination of 3D content, bringing corresponding tools and technologies to more developers, so that games can reach players more easily.

That's why today, Unity has chosen Azure as its cloud partner for building and operating real-time 3D (RT3D) experiences on the Unity engine. Additionally, we're excited to work with Unity to make it easier for game creators around the world to publish their games to Xbox consoles and PCs, reaching a wider gaming audience.

3D interactive experiences born in games are rapidly taking the world beyond gaming by storm. Unity is currently building a platform-agnostic, cloud-native solution to meet the broad needs of all developers, from enterprises to individuals. By giving creators RT3D simulation tools and the ability to create digital twins , Unity provides an easy way to create game or non-game RT3D assets. To support this evolution, creators need an equally dynamic and innovative technology solution, and Azure is the answer.

Built for security and global scalability, Azure has supported several of the world's largest games, and has fed the RT3D experience across all industries with experience gained in actual combat. As the need for real-time simulation becomes critical in industries ranging from e-commerce, energy, manufacturing to healthcare, Unity and Microsoft are working to create a creator cloud that will allow 3D artists to build and run these experiences directly on Azure.

Our ambition is to develop games and game-like experiences that benefit the world and across industries, and this goal requires us to build strong partnerships, especially with real-time 3D engines like Unity. The partnership between Microsoft and Unity will also make it easier for Unity creators to reach players on Windows and Xbox, opening up new opportunities for success. With improved developer tools, the latest platform innovations from silicon to cloud, and a simplified publishing experience, Unity creators will realize their dreams of bringing their games to more players in the world.

Message from Unity

We're excited to announce that Unity has partnered with Microsoft Azure to bring Create Solutions to the cloud, and is starting to build our own cloud infrastructure to better serve a wide range of needs and enhance Unity games and other experiences. The Microsoft and Unity partnership also makes it easier for developers to build and publish games on Windows and Xbox platforms.

Throughout our entire ecosystem of tools and services, there are many more places we can work with Microsoft Azure to create the corresponding cloud capabilities. We will leverage these cloud capabilities to improve workflows, deliver new capabilities, increase functional reliability, provide globally accessible capabilities, and more.

We will work to build the engine's native capabilities, so that more people can unlock our tools, enabling users to take advantage of the advanced computing, storage and reliability of cloud technology. We believe that cloud technology makes it easy for creators around the world to collaborate seamlessly, and it enables experiences that are not possible with native resources on just one device or platform. Unity already has many cloud-driven tools and services, including Unity Game Services, Parsec, DevOps, Wētā Digital, Digital Twins, and more. Many of our tools are also already heavily used in cloud workflows like PIXYZ, Unity Headless Rendering, etc. Through this collaboration, more tools will be moved to the cloud for use by teams large and small around the world.

We're excited to work with Microsoft Azure to improve these tools and services below.

DevOps products like Plastic SCM and Cloud Build facilitate rapid iteration, enabling users to identify problems earlier and produce a higher-quality experience. We've been working hard to scale DevOps services with cloud technology. In addition to the renovation of the web experience, the maximum capacity of Cloud Build's resource library will be increased from 25GB to 40GB, and the number of concurrent instances will be increased from 6 to 8. Plastic SCM's in-editor plugins are also constantly improving, and a brand new desktop UI has recently been launched. By partnering with Microsoft Azure, we will continue to scale our services to create a more integrated creator ecosystem to support larger and more complex projects.

We also want users to easily access, stream and find content from anywhere. Parsec is already available within Azure VMs (virtual machines) and Azure Game Development VMs (game development virtual machines), but it's still some distance away from truly enabling collaboration regardless of location. In the future, you will have quick access to your project files no matter which computer you use to edit.

In addition to games, many applications of RT3D technology on digital twins require access to models, point clouds, and other data that are difficult to use even with the most advanced equipment. We believe that everyone should have the ability to easily create, share, visualize, manage and collaborate on digital twins on the cloud.

As more games and experiences are built around full RT3D, one challenge we must address is the production of great content. Integrating artistic tools like Wētā Digital and Ziva into Microsoft Azure to popularize advanced machine learning and procedural creation tools for gaming, media, film and other use cases is one of our most important cloud initiatives.

And to maximize the reach and success of our games, we will further support iconic features across the entire Microsoft gaming ecosystem, including Xbox consoles, PCs, and the Microsoft Store.

Microsoft has become a strong partner for Unity, and together we are committed to making games and other creators successful.

As 3D interactive experiences continue to grow in gaming and non-gaming, Microsoft and Unity will empower a new wave of creators to define the digital world of the future. Their talent, creativity and empathy are changing the world for a better place.

Welcome to scan the code to apply for the Microsoft Game Developer Support Program.

Long press to identify the QR code

Click to learn more~