Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/457057
20 cgw j a n u a r y . f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 5 In fact, 2014 was a big year for Unity. The company made several acquisitions, including Applifier (Helsinki, Finland) for its Everyplay and GameAds services, and Playnomics (San Francisco) mobile game analyt- ics company. Then in October 2014, Helgason stepped down as Unity CEO, with John Ricci- tiello assuming that position. Previously the CEO of Electronic Arts, Riccitiello is now provid- ing the leadership to grow the platform further. Unity has maintained a strong presence in Asia, thanks in part to the explosion of mo- bile gaming in the region. "The Asian market for game devel- opment is quite different from Western markets," as William Yang, general manager of Unity Korea, explains. "I think many Korean development studios have strengths in their graphics quality, 'freemium' schemes, and seamless network play. As mobile network services improve in terms of speed, cov- erage, and payment plans (for instance, 4G LTE) in the West- ern markets, the conversion and availability of content – and better games – will grow." Yang continues, "Top areas of consideration will be in-game revenue streams, such as adver- tising, and in-game purchases backed by better analytic tools to improve discovery. Casual games will be the largest market by volume, but ARPPU (average revenue per paying user) will probably be higher in more levels of gameplay that have better-quality graphics, strategy, and gameplay – most every- thing will have to have a social platform/element inside." There are many benefits to using Unity and the strength of its large user base and com- munity development. What seems to be most important to developers is Unity's support for cross-platform development: Currently it runs on 15 different platforms, including Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, Flash, PS4, Xbox, and Wii U. Also, an increasingly import- ant feature is the company's Asset Store. Unity's Asset Store launched in 2010 to support its active developer community. Since then, the Asset Store has played a significant role for both studios and individual develop- ers as a marketplace to share content and sell everything from images to code. Monument Valley One of the breakout games of 2014 was the architectural game Monument Valley, created by ustwo using Unity. "Monument Valley has very bespoke and intricately designed 3D levels, so having a great WYSIWYG editor was important," says Neil McFarland, director of ustwo, which has offices in New York, London, and Sweden. "The best way to cre- ate great games is to make it as easy as possible for designers to create and iterate content. The Unity Editor was customiz- able to fit our specific require- ments for making 'impossible' Escher-esque levels. This made it much quicker to iterate on level design and art, which was critical to obtaining the level of polish that we wanted." The team created the game using Unity, open-source Blend- er, Adobe's Photoshop, and Atlassian's SourceTree, a pipe- line that gave the artists "the greatest degree of freedom to express themselves efficiently," McFarland adds. According to McFarland, the studio needed a tool that made it simple for everyone on the team – artists with tech skills, developers with art skills, and production support with artistic integrity – to use and con- tribute directly to the project. "Selecting a game engine is a substantial investment, so it was important to keep open our options for targeting different platforms in the future, and Unity has perhaps the broadest range of supported platforms," he says. Another concern pertains to monetization, especially since it has become increas- ingly difficult with mobile games. Even a breakout hit like Monument Valley has to look at its monetizing strategies on a platform-by-platform basis. Ustwo went for a premium model, selling the game for $3.99, which was considered high when so many were going the freemium route. Expecting it would take a year to break even on the title, the studio was surprised when it took just seven days to do so. However, most of the revenue came from iOS platforms, while only 5 percent of Android users bought the game. "While unexpected, this was not a complete surprise, as Android is an open platform, which more easily allows the acquisition of games and apps outside the regulated channels of distribution," says McFarland. Subnautica Unknown Worlds Enter- tainment (San Francisco) is currently using Unity3D for the development of Subnautica, an underwater, open-world USTWO USED UNITY'S ENGINE FOR ITS MONUMENT VALLEY GAME.