Unity rolls out AI tools and marketplace for game developers

Unity is going all-in on generative AI technology. Today the company unveiled two new AI platforms to be added to the Unity ecosystem: Unity Muse and Unity Sentis. Muse is an AI content creation tool that allows developers to create assets and animations "faster, without interrupting their workflows." Unity Sentis is a runtime inference engine that allows developers to integrate neural networks in their game "on any platform."

Unity Muse is launching with a feature called "Unity Muse Chat," which allows developers to troubleshoot issues with the tool just by typing into a chat window prompt. Unity says additional features for Unity Muse will debut in the weeks ahead.

The rollout of these tools is to be expected, as fellow game-making platforms like Roblox have begun to experiment with methods of creating assets using generative AI. The end goal of Unity's efforts is to allow developers to quickly create assets and animations just using a text prompt or quick sketch.

The company's AI efforts aren't ending there. The company is also launching a new dedicated AI marketplace as a "premier destination" for AI solutions. This marketplace will be an arm of the Unity Asset store, and developers can visit it to look for generative AI tools, AI and machine learning integration solutions, and systems to power in-game AI actors.

The store is launching with tools created by companies outside of Unity, including Leonardo Ai, Modl.ai, and Replica Studios.

What will Unity's AI tools be used for in video game development?

In a statement CEO John Riccitiello said that Unity expects that AI tools will "revolutionize gaming, much like the transformative impacts we've seen from 3D, mobile, and the internet."

Marc Whitten, president of Unity's "Create" division explained to Game Developer that the company sees this technology as a means to make game development more accessible for industry newcomers, and to boost the productivity of existing professionals so they can "make great games faster and better."

"We identified years ago that the ability to make content is one of the most fundamental problems that's limiting large parts of games today from continuing to be as good as [developers] want," he added. "I do think it's too hard to make content for 3D worlds, and there's a lot of ideas that people have for 3D worlds and experiences...that if we can unlock the ability for them to create those, I actually think it creates more opportunity in the world."

The rollout of Unity's AI tools will no doubt run into the ethical and legal concerns already raised by the use of AI tools in video games. For more on that topic, be sure to read our extended interview with Whitten.