Unity Technologies: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:58, 17 December 2024

Revision as of 17:00, 17 December 2024

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=== Founding and early success (2004–2008) ===

Unity Technologies was founded as Over the Edge Entertainment in [[Copenhagen]] in 2004 by [[David Helgason]] ([[chief executive officer]]), Nicholas Francis ([[chief creative officer]]), and Joachim Ante ([[chief technology officer]]).<ref name="Takahashi-CTO">{{cite news |title=Unity Technologies CTO declares the company isn't up for sale |last1=Takahashi |first1=Dean |url=https://venturebeat.com/2014/10/16/unity-cto-declares-the-company-isnt-up-for-sale/ |work=VentureBeat |date=16 October 2014 |access-date=17 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322173333/https://venturebeat.com/2014/10/16/unity-cto-declares-the-company-isnt-up-for-sale/ |archive-date=22 March 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="$400Million">{{cite news |title=Unity Technologies Gets a $400 Million Investment |last1=Illummont |first1=Brooke |url=https://www.insidescandinavianbusiness.com/article.php?id=15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918163449/https://insidescandinavianbusiness.com/article.php?id=15 |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 September 2020 |work=Inside Scandinavian Business |date=9 October 2017 |access-date=29 November 2018 }}</ref> Over the Edge released its first game, ''[[GooBall]]'', in 2005.<ref name="$400Million" /> The game failed commercially, but the three founders saw value in the game development tools that they had created to simplify game development, so they shifted the company's focus to creating an engine for other developers.<ref name="Takahashi-CTO" /><ref name="$400Million" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Unity interview: engineering democracy |last1=Cook |first1=Dave |url=https://www.vg247.com/2012/10/18/unity-interview-engineering-democracy/ |work=VG24/7 |date=18 October 2012 |access-date=17 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322173333/https://www.vg247.com/2012/10/18/unity-interview-engineering-democracy/ |archive-date=22 March 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The company sought to "democratize" game development and make the development of 2D and 3D interactive content more accessible.<ref name="McWhertor-Riccitiello">{{cite news |title=Former EA CEO John Riccitiello is now head of Unity |last1=McWhertor |first1=Michael |url=https://www.polygon.com/2014/10/22/7039683/electronic-arts-john-riccitiello-unity-ceo |work=Polygon |date=22 October 2014 |access-date=17 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205103251/https://www.polygon.com/2014/10/22/7039683/electronic-arts-john-riccitiello-unity-ceo |archive-date=5 December 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Unity was named the runner-up for Best Use of Mac OS X Graphics at the 2006 Apple Design Awards.<ref>{{cite news |title=Apple Design Award winners announced |last1=Smykil |first1=Jeff |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2006/08/4937/ |work=[[Ars Technica]] |date=9 August 2006 |access-date=29 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320210340/https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2006/08/4937/ |archive-date=20 March 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> The company grew with the 2007 release of the [[iPhone]], as Unity Technologies produced one of the first engines supporting the platform in full.<ref name="Unityat10">{{cite news |title=Unity at 10: For better—or worse—game development has never been easier |last1=Axon |first1=Samuel |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/09/unity-at-10-for-better-or-worse-game-development-has-never-been-easier/ |work=Ars Technica |date=27 September 2016 |access-date=17 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005025906/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/09/unity-at-10-for-better-or-worse-game-development-has-never-been-easier/ |archive-date=5 October 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Unity raises $181M monster round at a reported $1.5B valuation |last1=Matney |first1=Lucas |url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/13/unity-announces-181-million-monster-round-led-by-dfj-growth/ |work=[[TechCrunch]] |date=13 July 2016 |access-date=29 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204132509/https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/13/unity-announces-181-million-monster-round-led-by-dfj-growth/ |archive-date=4 December 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Because the games industry was focused on console games when the iPhone and App Store were released, Unity was positioned to support developers looking to create mobile games.<ref>{{cite news |title=Asia is 'a game changer' |last1=Chng |first1=Grace |url=https://www.nexis.com/docview/getDocForCuiReq?lni=57KV-RFR1-JCF2-80P8&csi=8422&oc=00240&perma=true |work=[[The Straits Times]] |date=28 January 2013 |access-date=29 November 2018}}</ref><ref name="NewRealities">{{cite news |title=With new realities to build, Unity positioned to become tech giant |last1=Matney |first1=Lucas |url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/25/with-new-realities-to-build-unity-positioned-to-become-tech-giant/ |work=[[TechCrunch]] |date=25 May 2017 |access-date=29 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020173106/https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/25/with-new-realities-to-build-unity-positioned-to-become-tech-giant/ |archive-date=20 October 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Its dominance on the iPhone was largely uncontested for a couple of years.<ref name="Unityat10" /> In 2007, Over the Edge changed its name to Unity Technologies.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mcvuk.com/united-they-stand/ |title=United they stand |author=MCV Staff |date=17 December 2009 |website=[[MCV (magazine)|MCV]] |access-date=29 May 2019}}</ref>