For those of you looking to get your feet wet with iOS or Android development for either games or apps, engine developer Unity3D is currently offering the iOS and Android SDK development modules for free until April 8th along with the core Unity Free toolkit necessary for use with the modules. The modules also allow for a full Android/iOS license of the Unity toolkit for personal or small-scale commercial use while additional features require the purchase of the Unity Pro license which starts at $1500 a seat, with a 30 day trial.
The entire package is available now and only requires registration to download. No credit card or other financial information is necessary to complete the transaction and the core SDK and modules are more than enough to get started on learning basic game development. Unity3D is one of the most popular toolchains for mobile game development and the current availability of the Android and iOS modules for free underscores the drive by the company to draw hobbyists and small development teams to the game engine.
Wow, get the scoop right, please.
Only the Basic iOS Android is offered for free. It is missing a lot of quality features in Pro such as code stripping (can mean your resulting APK is bloated 2x what it could be in size).
Unity has a layered pricing system. To get iOS Pro, that will cost you $1500. To get both iOS Pro and Android Pro, that would cost you $1500 + $1500 = $3000. To get iOS Android + PC/Mac Pro, that would cost you $1500 + $1500 + $1500 = $4500.
That’s per seat.
And, it’s not a SDK per se.
The other news is that Hero Engine has a 70-30 split for indies. Cry Engine since last fall has had an indie-friendly licensing with 80-20 split, and they are soon releasing an iOS export. An iOS game made with CryEngine was demo’d at GDC.
Also, the free version is basically free advertising for Unity – it forces a Unity logo splash screen for all apps.
Unity is the new Flash. Expect a new wave of shoddy mobile content to be made in Unity.
I’m using SDK in the most general sense, because that what it is to most people that aren’t developers. While I agree that Unity is the new Flash, I’ve yet to see any compelling alternative for hobbyists that costs less than $5K a seat with full access and CryEngine/Unreal isn’t it.
Most people looking at this will not be seasoned developers, they will be looking for something to play with or looking for alternatives to engines that require proof of industry affiliation for basic access. In any case, I appreciate the heads up and will correct accordingly.