Microsoft Ties Up With Unity Technologies, Opens Doors For Augmented Reality Gaming

Everyone from the VR pioneer Oculus VR, to Sony, Samsung, Facebook, HTC and Valve, jumped in the fray with their own wearable VR solutions for gaming such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Samsung Gear VR and Sony's Morpheus. Microsoft took a more augmented reality, or AR, approach to VR headsets with the HoloLens, and its link to gaming applications was tenuous at best. However, that perception changed radically when Microsoft announced its partnership with Unity Technologies for the HoloLens project.

According to a Gamespot report, this strategic partnership was announced in the Microsoft Build conference held in San Francisco on April 29. Unity, on the other hand, describes this tie-up as a "strategic collaboration" that aims to offer an "optimal authoring solution" for Microsoft's HoloLens technology. The touted authoring solutions include tools customised specifically to leverage the AR aspect of HoloLens.

For example, one of the tools showcased at the event allows developers to anchor virtual holographic objects onto those in the real world. A good illustration of this implementation would be the ability to play Real-Time Strategy games using the HoloLens, with a real world coffee table serving as the battlefield. This will allow developers to achieve a tighter and more meaningful integration of the HoloLens' AR aspect into video games.

"Expanding our relationship with Unity Technologies was a natural next step in bringing content to Microsoft HoloLens," said Microsoft Xbox boss Yusuf Mehdi. "We are very excited to unveil this partnership and look forward to the possibilities it will open for developers creating experiences for Microsoft HoloLens."

Unity Technologies is better known as the company behind the Unity game engine. The engine is a favourite among those who create video games for the PC platform and a growing number of smaller developers. However, of late it has been associated with relatively larger and more popular names such as "HearthStone: Heroes of Warcraft" and "Cities: Skylines," in addition to mobile games such as "Deus Ex: The Fall" and "Hitman Go."

Techcrunch points out that the low-cost, PC-centric nature and versatility of the Unity engine also makes it the backbone of choice for a majority of Oculus Rift game developers. This, when combined with the relatively open nature and ethos of the Unity engine, means that the deal between Microsoft and Unity Technologies doesn't seem to entail much in terms of exclusivity for Microsoft. However, considering this is a recent development, there could be further announcements laying out details of how the partnership gives Microsoft an edge over the competition.

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Microsoft HoloLens - Possibilities (Credit: YouTube/Microsoft)