Unity celebrates five years with 30m installs
Over 170,000 registered developers have used the 3D engine for web, MMO, portable and console games
The Unity platform celebrates its fifth birthday today, with over 30 million installs of the Unity Web Player and more than 170,000 developers using the technology.
Launched at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in 2005, the web, mobile and console platform is used by a variety of global brands including Lego, Gorillaz, Microsoft, NASA, Disney, DC Comics, Cadbury, Cartoon Network, Panasonic, Bigpoint and Pepsi.
"We put very polished and productive tools ahead of bleeding edge engine technology, created a very simple, clean and approachable licensing model for the masses and made an early bet on web and mobile before it was clear they would be gaming devices," offered David Helgason, CEO of Unity Technologies.
"In just five years since its introduction, Unity has gone from bedroom geekery to truly mainstream. We thrive on innovating and heavily reinvest in development to keep moving and growing at a radical pace so we can continue to raise the bar for innovation and continue to amaze our customers."
The Unity platform has been used for games across multiple platforms including EA's Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online, LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2D2, Skee-Ball for the iPhone and Max and the Magic Marker for Wii.
Unity Technologies is privately held with 50 per cent of its revenues coming from outside of the US and a third of revenues from non-games companies. Investors included Sequoia Capital, VMware co-founder Dianne Green and former Electronic Arts exec David Gardner.
"I continue to believe that 3D content will be the next big event on the web," said Gardner, now general partner at London Venture Partners. "Unity is perfectly placed to make that a fast and easy experience for developers that will ultimately delight customers with a much higher fidelity experience."
"The team at Unity has delivered a great platform which has now reached critical mass with the development community. It is battle tested with major brands successfully launching content via the internet. With new devices such as the iPad making it so easy to have a great visual experience, the demand for 3D content will skyrocket."