Microsoft makes Unity license free for all ID@Xbox Developers

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Microsoft makes Unity license free for all ID@Xbox Developers. The ID@Xbox Program.

Democratizing Development: Announcing Unity for ID@Xbox Developers

Tuesday, November 5, 6 a.m. PT

By: Chris Charla

If one thing has become clear as we've been working on ID@Xbox, our independent developer self-publishing program for Xbox One, it's that today's independent game developers are using middleware to help realize their visions more than ever. Of course, middleware isn't cheap.

One of the cool things about working at Microsoft is that we have access to pretty amazing resources. For independent developers though, tools like Unity on console can cost quite a bit.

We talked internally at ID@Xbox about ways we could help developers for Xbox One. Many developers we talk to are using Unity today to get up and running quickly, and to be able to harness the power of hardware and realize their creative visions without spending tons of time on technology development. We thought about paying for some developers' Unity licenses but the more we talked about it, the more we felt paying for some developers' licenses and not others just didn't feel right.

To us, ID@Xbox is about providing a level playing field for all developers. So, we worked with Unity and we're pleased to announce that, when released in 2014, the Xbox One add-on for Unity will be available at no cost to all developers in the ID@Xbox program, as will special Xbox One-only Unity Pro seat licenses for Xbox One developers in the ID@Xbox program.

Will we devote marketing and promotion to promising looking titles in development? Of course. But we want to make sure the dev who's working away in Omaha, or Coventry, or Chiba will have the same shot to realize their vision on Xbox One as one of my developer friends we hang out with in Seattle or at a trade show like GDC or Gamescom. Because at the end of the day, we want gamers to pick the hits. That's what Xbox One is all about: One games store, the best discovery tools on console, and a powerful, equal playing field for all games, from developers big and small.

This announcement is cool for a bunch of reasons. The Unity add-on for Xbox One supports every element of Xbox One, from Kinect to SmartGlass to the impulse triggers of the new controller. Using Unity, developers will be able to take advantage of all aspects of Xbox One, which is rad. More importantly, Unity is available for Windows and Windows Phone too (and yes, the add-on is available at no cost to developers for Windows Phone and Windows 8 store games). So from one base game, developers can ship their games across all Microsoft platforms. For more details on Microsoft's partnership with Unity, check out this Xbox Wire post from BUILD 2013.

As always, our goal at ID@Xbox and Microsoft remains the same: We want to lower friction for developers on Microsoft platforms to make sure gamers get access to the broadest and deepest library of amazing games on the planet. We're also excited to work with other middleware and service providers to drive value for independent developers, and we hope to have even more announcements that directly benefit developers.

We asked Unity and a couple of our developer friends their thoughts on Unity being free to developers on Xbox One. Here's what they had to say:

David Helgason, CEO, Unity Technologies: "Microsoft continues to show their commitment to creating opportunity for developers of all shapes and sizes, a commitment shared by Unity. The drive behind the ID@Xbox program is exciting for Unity and the games development community in general. We can't wait to see the results."

Dan Teasdale, No Goblin: "ID@Xbox has been great about lowering the bar to entry for smaller developers like No Goblin. Free Unity licenses are another big step towards making Xbox One a no-brainer for independent developers like us."

Dino Patti, Playdead: "It's definitely great that Microsoft is lifting this cost off of developers. We love when things are hassle free."

Mike Mika, Other Ocean: "In the last generation, we spent a lot of time and resources trying to make games run across multiple platforms. It's cool to see Microsoft take another step in making life easier for developers. We're already developing using Unity on Windows 8 and so adding Xbox One to our Unity pipeline makes tons of sense."

Jamie Tucker, Asteroid Base: "As Unity developers, we are excited to hear about this. Anything that makes it easier for indies to get their games into the hands of players is an great thing."​
 

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SevenDead1ySinz said:
So is this a really good thing? How much does the license cost indies?
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$1500 so not crazy expensive as other engines but for Indies selling games for $2 a pop you need to sell a hell of a lot to break even. This is indeed great news because Unity is cross platform and Indies will be able to easily port their games to Xbox One, Windows 8/RT and Windows Phone.
 
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TheGeneral said:
$1500 so not crazy expensive as other engines but for Indies selling games for $2 a pop you need to sell a hell of a lot to break even. This is indeed great news because Unity is cross platform and Indies will be able to easily port their games to Xbox One, Windows 8/RT and Windows Phone.
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Ahh ok, thanks for clarifying :) looks like it's a good gesture by Microsoft, not a large expense for them but helps remove a barrier of entry for smaller indies.
 
is unity user friendly for beginners?


would I be able to learn my self with hard work and dedication?? "Psshh yeah right"
 
This is awesome news. I recently got into android game development and would love to try and create some games for xbox. Count me in MS.
 
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This is great and all, but sadly I'm still seeing lots of indie developers on twitter express that they haven't received kits or just plain haven't heard any response back at all. Great, you are bringing out an excellent SDK and giving away Unity, but they can't work on the games until they deliver a basic level of communication.

I've been following the feed on twitter and I've seen people that were the very first to contact them when @ID_Xbox first went live, still say they haven't heard anything back.
 
DontEatPoop said:
is unity user friendly for beginners?


would I be able to learn my self with hard work and dedication?? "Psshh yeah right"
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I would also like to know. I am thinking of doing old school adventure books style game like lonewolf, Nothing complicated, just going to different story telling part base on choice of player, with simple slideshow animation & such.

Something like an ebook, but allow different branching paths.
 
Have worked a bit in Unity, mostly done basic stuff, most advanced thing I managed to make sow far is my own levling up system for a Rpg game (I did end up with buying the pro version after this).

It takes some time getting used to, took me months learning about how to use C# script.
I used tutorials to learn from:
If someone is interested have this Hack and Slash tutorial series made by BurgZergArcade http://www.burgzergarcade.com/hack-slash-rpg-unity3d-game-engine-tutorial I have followed it until around part 70 or sow after that I went my own way.

I bought Playmaker from Unity Assetstore https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/#/content/368 (still is on sale now) and I feel that gives me more freedom, visual scripting, it was with this I managed to make the leveling up system, used things I had learned from the Hack and Slash tutorials.

There are also other tutorials on youtube.
 
DLC said:
Have worked a bit in Unity, mostly done basic stuff, most advanced thing I managed to make sow far is my own levling up system for a Rpg game (I did end up with buying the pro version after this).

It takes some time getting used to, took me months learning about how to use C# script.
I used tutorials to learn from:
If someone is interested have this Hack and Slash tutorial series made by BurgZergArcade http://www.burgzergarcade.com/hack-slash-rpg-unity3d-game-engine-tutorial I have followed it until around part 70 or sow after that I went my own way.

I bought Playmaker from Unity Assetstore https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/#/content/368 (still is on sale now) and I feel that gives me more freedom, visual scripting, it was with this I managed to make the leveling up system, used things I had learned from the Hack and Slash tutorials.

There are also other tutorials on youtube.
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Thanks a lot. I will have a look. What also concern me is distribution, and awareness. You know how small time indies are able to gain awareness of the game, or I will need to look for publisher?
 
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starseeker said:
Thanks a lot. I will have a look. What also concern me is distribution, and awareness. You know how small time indies are able to gain awareness of the game, or I will need to look for publisher?
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Well after what I read there is some different ways to do this, one can go with the steam greenlight tho I have heard about some developers that got trouble because after they managed to get a publisher then wanted their game removed from greenlight.

Now I mostly do this for a hobby (when not playing games), but I would think getting a publisher would be best.
Just make sure it is you that owns the rights to the game if that ever comes up.

Also when you go thru the tutorials make prepare on that gone become some errors, I remember had to go over scripts many times (was when writing C# script instad of visual scripting) using many hours to figure out, and then when figured it was often a simple misstake.
Reading thru forums about the different errors.

When got to Trigger events that was when the fun really started for me, it is very easy to make a box or door open or close, but you dont want to do it by only pressing a button from far distance there is where the trigger events parts come in, when player gets close to object (this done by making colliders triggers, I use to have two colliders on player, one for trigger the other for gravity).
 
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DLC said:
Well after what I read there is some different ways to do this, one can go with the steam greenlight tho I have heard about some developers that got trouble because after they managed to get a publisher then wanted their game removed from greenlight.

Now I mostly do this for a hobby (when not playing games), but I would think getting a publisher would be best.
Just make sure it is you that owns the rights to the game if that ever comes up.

Also when you go thru the tutorials make prepare on that gone become some errors, I remember had to go over scripts many times (was when writing C# script instad of visual scripting) using many hours to figure out, and then when figured it was often a simple misstake.
Reading thru forums about the different errors.

When got to Trigger events that was when the fun really started for me, it is very easy to make a box or door open or close, but you dont want to do it by only pressing a button from far distance there is where the trigger events parts come in, when player gets close to object (this done by making colliders triggers, I use to have two colliders on player, one for trigger the other for gravity).
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In my experience being a programmer, when you come across errors like that that are taking you hours on end to figure out, stackoverflow is a great resource.
 
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Z A C K said:
In my experience being a programmer, when you come across errors like that that are taking you hours on end to figure out, stackoverflow is a great resource.
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Thanks, I will note that down.

When I switched over to Playmaker (unity asset) I can handle much quicker and without errors, but then again not everything can be done with Visual coding (like making an inventory system, that one is very complicated).
 
XBoxNeo said:
I am gonna catch flack from the resident know-it-alls for saying this...

But Unity is not for you. I would suggest something like Blitz Basic (http://blitzbasic.com/Products/_index_.php) because it is the shallow end of the pool for both programming and game design. That it has the simplest possible pipeline for bringing in your art assets is a plus as well.
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You obviously underestimate my 1337 coding skillz!
 
XBoxNeo said:
I am gonna catch flack from the resident know-it-alls for saying this...

But Unity is not for you. I would suggest something like Blitz Basic (http://blitzbasic.com/Products/_index_.php) because it is the shallow end of the pool for both programming and game design. That it has the simplest possible pipeline for bringing in your art assets is a plus as well.
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Maybe this is better for me. I only did a bit of programing in my school days, playing a bit on directx, & do some simple windows application style program with visual basic during my internship, you know, like entering some tables, & click a button, & some result & graph are generated

Also Its been a very long time. I probably still remember the logic for C++ & basic, but the actual coding are mostly memories.
 
I would still like to try unity. I code all day for a living and spend most of my free time also coding for fun so I'm not worried about the language aspect of it. I'm fairly new to game programming though so not sure what unity would be like on that front. Interested to find out.
 
Yeah I've been deciding which direction to go with next gen consoles with my game, if they continue getting their sit together we just might port here.
 
Why do have to bloody mention spark! You know it make holding out for buying xbox one so much harder! :(
 
This is really PR bs and a non-story. All they are saying is that they will not charge a licencing fee for established (i.e. larger, more financially flush) indie devs who frankly are not the ones who this will really matter to. For the 'real' indie devs, the little guys, they are still screwed. Also, this is no different than what Sony has already been doing, as they are not only providing 'established' indie devs with free dev kits, but are also waiving licencing fees for games they chose to support (PS+ freebies especially). Either way, at the end of the day, the licensing fee is really not even the issue. It is and has always been, getting access to that licence (Sony or MS) and the criteria that is involved to do so.
 
Obscene Jester said:
This is really PR bs and a non-story. All they are saying is that they will not charge a licencing fee for established (i.e. larger, more financially flush) indie devs who frankly are not the ones who this will really matter to. For the 'real' indie devs, the little guys, they are still screwed. Also, this is no different than what Sony has already been doing, as they are not only providing 'established' indie devs with free dev kits, but are also waiving licencing fees for games they chose to support (PS+ freebies especially). Either way, at the end of the day, the licensing fee is really not even the issue. It is and has always been, getting access to that licence (Sony or MS) and the criteria that is involved to do so.
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Uh this is for all indies that are part of ID@Xbox, not just the big indies. They get the Xbox one stuff for free, but if they want to be multiplat they need to already have a unity license, if they want to be xbox one only then they get the whole thing for free.
 
SevenDead1ySinz said:
Uh this is for all indies that are part of ID@Xbox, not just the big indies. They get the Xbox one stuff for free, but if they want to be multiplat they need to already have a unity license, if they want to be xbox one only then they get the whole thing for free.
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Yeah, go ahead and look into what is required to get accepted into ID@xbox then get back to me. Also, this is a free Xbox Unity license, not a free Unity licence. Those are two separate things. You still need to pay for the base Unity licence.
 
Obscene Jester said:
Yeah, go ahead and look into what is required to get accepted into ID@xbox then get back to me.
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What are the criteria for becoming a member of ID@Xbox?
Of course, we’ll be evaluating each developer application individually on its own merits, but in the initial phase of ID@Xbox, we are looking for professional independent game developers who have a proven track record of shipping games on console, PC, mobile, or tablet.
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Doesn't exactly sound too stringent to me, all that says to me is that intially they aren't going to accept people that just decided to become indie devs to get 2 free X1's...lots of the smaller 'real' indies devs have multiple titles developed.
 
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