At the Unite conference in Berlin, game engine Unity revealed that it would be working with Google’s cloud computing wing to enable a new generation of ‘connected’ experiences for players.
Taking a broad approach to games with an emphasis on ‘connectivity’ – from multiplayer titles to social apps – Unity’s CEO John Riccitiello noted that ‘connected games’ account for 87% of the bestselling games on Valve, and 90% of the most watched games on Twitch.
The partnership with Google aims to streamline the process for developers making these kinds of multiplayer projects. This will start with multiplayer game server hosting, as well as a new open source matchmaking project co-founded by Unity and Google Cloud
“We’re proud of the many Unity developers that collectively produce more than half the world’s games,” said Riccitiello. “Multiplayer games have long been the fastest-growing type of games. Multiplayer games are also the most challenging to create and properly support. Our alliance with Google Cloud will help developers build multiplayer games more easily and operate them more cost-effectively, at a global scale.”
Unity also announced that it would be migrating its own infrastructure to Google Cloud; a decision Riccitiello puts down to Google’s “openness, security, scalability, and innovation through data”.
“Much like Unity is dedicated to democratising game development, we’re committed to democratising the use of advanced technology through the cloud,” said Diane Greene, CEO of Google Cloud.
“We’re excited to work together with Unity to ensure developers have the tools and infrastructure they need to build, launch and grow games at global scale.”
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