Unity releases Unity 6.4 and Unity Studio
Unity has released Unity 6.4, the latest version of the game engine and real-time renderer.
Artists get improvements to snapping in the Scene view, workflow improvements to terrain shading and Mesh LODs, and a revamped Rendering Statistics window.
Developers get more major changes, with both the Entity Component System and Project Auditor now integrated directly into the Unity Editor.
In related news, Unity has also launched Unity Studio, its separate browser-based tool for authoring interactive 3D experiences.
Improvements to Grid and Snap in the Scene View
Changes relevant to CG artists in Unity 6.4 include a revamp of Grid and Snap in the Scene View, for aligning 3D objects within scenes.
It is now possible to give the snapping grid a custom rotation, making it much more useful where level elements like bridges and walkways don’t align to an orthogonal grid.
The Grid and Snap toolbar, drop-downs and contextual menus have all been streamlined, and there are more keyboard shortcuts for common operations.
Workflow improvements to terrain shading and Mesh LODs
Terrain shading was one of the key changes in Unity 6.3 (above), and 6.4 further streamlines workflow, with users now able to drag and drop materials onto terrain in the Scene view.
It is also now possible to drag and drop terrain layers in the Scene view and Inspector window.
Previewing and debugging Mesh LODs has been streamlined, with new options to toggle LOD level labels in the Scene view, and a new selection bar in the Mesh LOD Inspector window to display the LOD level the camera renders at each ratio.
Updates to 2D and 3D graphics
Unity 6.4 isn’t a particularly graphics-focused update, but there are changes to rendering, including a revamped Rendering Statistics window, and updates to volume rendering.
2D projects get an option to create custom render passes for the Universal Render Pipeline (URP) as C# scripts, and the option to create sprite atlases at runtime.
For developers: ECS and Project Auditor now built into the Unity Editor
However, the biggest changes in Unity 6.4 primarily affect developers, with the Entities Component System (ECS) now available as Core packages, and integrated directly into the Unity Editor.
For performance analysis, Project Auditor – previously an optional package, is also now built into the Editor by default.
In the Adaptive Performance system, the Basic provider now supports consoles – PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S – as well as desktop and mobile.
There are also updates to the online matchmaking features for multiplayer games: you can find details of all the new developer features in this forum post.
Unity Studio: a new browser-based tool for creating interactive 3D apps without coding
In separate news, Unity has also launched Unity Studio, its new browser-based tool for creating interactive 3D applications.
It’s primarily aimed at non-entertainment work – “designers, engineers, trainers, and product teams” – and is intended for building 3D demos and configurators without coding.
Unity Studio requires a separate subscription to Unity itself, and it isn’t currently possible to export projects to it from the Unity Editor, although that is planned “in a future update”.
Price and system requirements
Unity 6.4 is available now. The Unity Editor is compatible with Windows 10+, macOS 13.0+ and Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 Linux.
Free Personal subscriptions are now available for artists and small studios earning under $200,000/year, and include all of the core features.
Pro subscriptions, for mid-sized studios, now cost $2,310/year. Enterprise subscriptions, for studios with revenue over $25 million/year, are priced on demand.
Unity Studio requires a desktop web browser: Unity recommends Chrome. Unity Studio subscriptions cost $799/year, and include cloud-based storage and asset management.
Read an overview of the new features in Unity 6.4 on the Unity forum
Read a full list of new features in Unity 6.4 in the online documentation
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