Unity receives ‘credible death threat’ amid per-install fee backlash

Unity has been forced to close two of its offices and cancel a town hall meeting following a "credible death threat".

The unacceptable threat came on the heels of an announcement regarding a new per-install fee for developers using the Unity video game engine.

Just two days ago, Unity created widespread backlash across the gaming community by unveiling its intention to charge developers a per-install fee each time a player downloaded one of their...

15 September 2023 | Developer

Niantic 8th Wall enhances WebAR with powerful GenAI modules

Niantic 8th Wall is enhancing its WebAR platform with generative AI (GenAI) modules to revolutionise augmented reality experiences.

The fusion of technologies promises to offer developers, brands, and agencies more creative potential and improve users’ augmented reality experiences.

Over the past few months, 8th Wall developers have harnessed the power of GenAI, integrating various cutting-edge GenAI technologies into the WebAR platform.

Current integrations...

1 September 2023 | Artificial Intelligence

Inworld and its AI NPCs are now valued at $500M

Inworld, a trailblazing company at the forefront of AI and gaming, has just closed a fundraising round where it raised a further $50 million.

This latest capital infusion – backed by prominent investors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, Stanford University, First Spark Ventures, Samsung Next, LG Technology Ventures, and existing investors like Microsoft’s M12 fund and Intel Capital – brings Inworld's total funding to over $120 million since its inception in...

3 August 2023 | Artificial Intelligence

Google Play now supports Web3 experiences

Google Play is updating its policies to support “blockchain-based experiences” in recognition of Web3’s potential.

“As a platform, we always want to help developers bring innovative ideas to life. Google Play hosts a variety of blockchain-related apps, and we know that our partners are excited to expand on these offerings to create more engaging and immersive digital experiences with tokenised digital assets such as NFTs,” wrote Joseph Mills, Group Product Manager for...

13 July 2023 | Android

Steam won’t distribute games with AI assets (for now)

Valve recently addressed the controversy surrounding its stance on distributing games featuring AI-generated art and content via its Steam storefront.

Reports emerged last week suggesting that Valve was refusing to distribute games featuring AI-generated assets, sparking a debate within the gaming community. However, in a statement to IGN, Valve spokesperson Kaci Aitchison Boyle clarified the company's position.

Aitchison Boyle emphasised that Valve is not attempting to...

3 July 2023 | App Stores

Apple releases visionOS SDK for crafting ‘all-new experiences’

Apple has released the visionOS SDK for developers eager to explore the possibilities of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences for Vision Pro.

While betas and SDKs for other Apple operating systems like iOS and macOS were launched on the first day of WWDC, developers had to wait for the release of the visionOS SDK. This meant that they could prepare their software for the upcoming fall releases but couldn't immediately start building for the new...

22 June 2023 | Development Tools

Apple simplifies porting Windows games to Mac

Apple is making strides to transform the Mac into a competitive gaming platform with its latest operating system, macOS Sonoma.

Apple has developed a new Game Porting Tool that simplifies the process of porting Windows games to the Mac. These features demonstrate Apple's commitment to expanding the gaming capabilities of its devices.

Running Windows games on macOS has been possible through third-party solutions like Wine and Crossover, which translate Microsoft's APIs to...

7 June 2023 | Developer

Sony accused of ‘blatant anti-competitive conduct’

Congress has raised concerns about Sony's monopoly on the gaming market in Japan, calling for an investigation into the firm's alleged "exclusionary conduct."

Senator Maria Cantwell told a Senate Finance Committee hearing: “Sony controls a monopoly of 98 percent of the high-end game market, yet Japan's government has allowed Sony to engage in blatant anti-competitive conduct through exclusive deals and payments to game publishers.”

Cantwell called on US Trade...

28 March 2023 | Gaming

Microsoft intends to launch a mobile app store

Microsoft is planning to launch a mobile app store that will compete against the App Store and Play Store.

According to Microsoft’s Xbox head Phil Spencer, Microsoft will take advantage of an upcoming EU law that will break up the monopoly held by the two major smartphone platform holders.

"We want to be in a position to offer Xbox and content from both us and our third-party partners across any screen where somebody would want to play," Spencer told the...

21 March 2023 | Android

Google tool helps developers create XR experiences

Google has released a tool called Immersive Stream for XR that makes it easier for developers to create mixed-reality experiences.

Earlier this week, the company held an event where it demonstrated a new “immersive view” in Google Maps that uses advances in AI and computer vision to fuse billions of Street View and other images to create a detailed 3D model of locations. Impressively, it even works indoors to allow users to check out a venue like a restaurant before they...

10 February 2023 | Developer