At Unite 2022: Machine learning research, persistent worlds, and celebrating creators

On November 1, more than 19,000 members of the Unity community joined us from around the world, both virtually and in-person, for a full day of gamedev inspiration, education, and connection. Following the keynote, attendees were able to experience fellow creators’ projects, participate in expert-led sessions, network with peers, and even attend a first-of-its-kind, multiplatform virtual concert.

With over 20 streamed sessions throughout the day and five unique local experiences, here is a roundup of notable highlights from Unite 2022.

Senior Machine Learning Developer Florent Bocquelet expanded on a tool and Real-Time Live! Audience Choice Award-winning project that first debuted this summer at SIGGRAPH 2022. The session “Authoring character poses with AI” walked attendees through how the technology – which is not yet available – is being designed to work in the Editor to enable easier creation of natural-looking poses. 

Benoit Gagnon, a senior software developer, modeled ways for users to handle persistent data in a multiplayer context during the session “Persistent worlds: Managing player and world state.” The technical deep dive also covered PlayerPrefs, CloudSave, and general-purpose DBs, and offered a glimpse at what’s next from Unity Gaming Services.

Of the more than 20 virtual sessions, nine featured leading minds from creators like you who use Unity day in and day out to optimize your projects, including:

• Renaud Forestié, director and Unity Asset Store publisher at More Mountains
• Nic Gomez, senior games designer at Alta
• Freya Holmér, studio founder
• Ben Hopkins, expert graphics engineer at Owlchemy Labs
• Rohan Jadav, platform engineer at SuperGaming
• Brandon Jahner, CTO at Maloka
• Manesh Mistry, lead programmer at ustwo Games
• Erick Passos, SDK lead developer at Photon Engine

We also caught up with creators from Triangle Factory, Vinci Games, and Obsidian Entertainment during the keynote session.

Get the inside scoop on the Unite 2022 experiences hosted in five unique locations at Unity offices around the world.

After networking and breakfast, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Create Solutions Marc Whitten welcomed the Austin crowd before the global keynote stream. For the rest of the day, attendees had the chance to check out exclusive in-person sessions, global virtual streams, and panels, and chat live with experts at the “Ask the Experts” booth. The day concluded with a fireside chat between Marc Whitten and Jeff Hanks, director of marketing for industries.

Kicking off with breakfast burritos, Unity Senior Vice President Peter Moore welcomed a packed crowd at the Brighton office for the Unite 2022 keynote stream. The day continued with enthusiasm as attendees filled rooms to watch session streams, live panels, and roundtable discussions. Topics exclusive to Brighton ranged from understanding your audience from a scientific perspective to how Unity identifies and fixes bugs. Brighton also featured a very popular iiRcade machine and four “Studio Spotlights” featuring local studios who talked about their latest games and how Unity helped bring each to life.

At yet another Unity office, Copenhagen guests were also welcomed with breakfast and an introduction from Senior Director of Product Management Andrew Bowell. In addition to its own iiRcade console and chances to check out the Made with Unity games featured in the keynote – Cult of the Lamb, Turbo Golf Racing, and Hyper Dash – attendees were treated to exclusive panel discussions as well as a fireside chat between Head of Marketing Strategy, Analytics, and Insights Deborah-Anna Reznek and Senior Vice President of AI Danny Lange.

Despite a rainy day, Montreal welcomed a solid mix of students and teams from mid- to large-sized studios. Luc Barthelet, senior vice president of technology, kicked off the day. Following the keynote stream, participants had their choice of roundtables, panels, and presentations to attend. The Montreal office also hosted 24 Unity Insiders from around the world, including Ireland, the Netherlands, Brighton, Portugal, Vancouver, and Toronto. This group participated in a VIP experience that featured exclusive tracks catered to their areas of interest.

The San Francisco experience had a great turnout and offered a choice of three different tracks for attendees, which included breakout focus groups, roundtables with Unity experts, and panel discussions. One such session featured Clive Downie, senior vice president and general manager for Consumer, as he moderated an interactive discussion with Ingrid Lestiyo, senior vice president and general manager for Operate Solutions, and the creators of Ramen VR (pictured below) amid a packed room. Another standout session was CEO John Riccitiello’s fireside chat with indie game developer Thomas Brush. To cap off the memorable day, attendees continued the festivities with a happy hour.

It was so great to connect with our Unity community at a Unite event again (for the first time since 2020). Please continue to join us on our journey toward making the world a better place with more creators: connect with us through the forums, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, or Twitch. And keep your eyes peeled in the coming months for on-demand session recordings so you can check out anything you missed.