Nintendo unite with Unity

Just days after a release date for the Wii U was set, Nintendo has announced a partnership with Unity Technologies to produce a Wii U version of the Unity engine.

The Unity engine is an authoring tool which allows for the creation of 3D video games, and currently runs on Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X producing games for PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, iPad, iPhone and Android; and, as of today, the Wii U.

This new version will allow Nintendo to distribute Unity to first and third-party developers, while a Wii U addition to the engine itself will be offered to current Unity users – a group that numbers more than 1.2m.

Unity chief executive David Helgason says attaching their engine to the Wii U will encourage developers to get creative.

“Nintendo’s unfettered access to Unity will produce a wealth of insanely good games from knowledgeable Nintendo developers and the Wii U deployment add-on will create an amazing opportunity for our massive community of developers,” he says.

So far, the engine has let developers produce everything from browser-based games to AAA consoles releases; recently, psychological horror video game Slender was developed using the engine, while the follow up to massively successful puzzler Limbo will utilise Unity.

This is a very smart move for Nintendo, as introducing the Unity engine will allow third-party developers vastly more freedom in what they can create for the Wii U, while also making it possible to bring existing titles to the new console.