We’re only a couple weeks out from Unite Austin 2017, and we could not be more excited to announce that director Neill Blomkamp (District 9) will headline the keynote and conference! Unite Austin, set to take place October 3-5 at the Austin Convention Center, is an excellent place for developers and creators to engage, network, and learn.

Developers, artists, educators, filmmakers, researchers and storytellers alike will have access to 70+ sessions with topics across VR/AR, game development, art and animation, and the business of game development. Tickets for Unite Austin 2017 are still available- scoot over to the Unite website to pick up yours!

During the keynote (October 4, 6:00PM CT), Neill Blomkamp will discuss Unity’s role in pioneering the future of real-time rendering. As part of this discussion, he will debut a world exclusive first look at his next short film, which is developed in real-time using Unity 2017. We are incredibly excited to share this film with you and think you will love it as much as we do. If you can’t make it to Austin in person, you are in luck because we will be livestreaming the keynote on our official Facebook and YouTube channels. Blomkamp and his team at Oats Studio, an experimental production studio focused on creating innovative short films, will also be hosting a session during Unite Austin, during which they will answer questions about their development process and show an exclusive screening of their next short film in advance of its full release later in October.

Details of Unity 2017.2 Unveiled

Launching in October, Unity 2017.2 is full of exciting features and we are thrilled to share with you some tidbits at Unite Austin. The keynote will feature the 2D Tilemap, which is a visual approach to level design that gives game developers, artists, designers, and all creators a rich and extensible palette to draw 2D worlds. Throughout the keynote, the audience will be shown how easy it is to optimize games and experiences so that creators can take advantage of the millions of devices that support these new technologies. It’s also important to note that the release of Unity 2017.2 will add support for ARCore, ARKit, Vuforia and Microsoft Mixed Reality- super exciting!

70+ Sessions

The variety of sessions available at Unite Austin, will allow attendees to curate a schedule that best fits their interests. The agenda includes feature presentations from thought-leaders at Vuforia, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, Intel, NVIDIA, Otoy, CloudMoolah and more. Additional sessions include hands-on labs and expert talks from Unity engineers, and a variety of independent/studio developers and artists. The complete session schedule can be found on the Unite Austin website.

Some of the sessions you can expect to see:

Exclusive Screening of Unity Made Shorts with Director of District 9 – Oats Studios

Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality’ Postmortem: VR Lessons *burrrp* Learned – Owlchemy Labs

Cinemachine for Games and Interactive: 1st person, 2D, 3rd person and Beyond – Unity

ARCore: Augmented Reality at Android Scale – Google

Facebook + Unity: Optimized for Growth – Facebook

Unity for Nintendo Platforms – Nintendo

Experimenting in Creativity – Wieden + Kennedy

Deforesting Game AI – Unity Technologies

Bringing International Space Station Science Down to Earth – NASA

Unite Austin Live Show Debuts

We will be debuting our first ever live show, Unite Austin Live, broadcasting from a studio located in the expo hall. In a format similar to late night talk shows, guests will engage in an interview style conversation with Unity staff hosts.

‘Unite Austin Live’ will be streamed on our official YouTube and Facebook channels from 11:00AM-1:00PM CT on October 4-5.

Made With Unity Showcase

As if there’s not already so much to be psyched about, Unite Austin is also featuring one of the strongest Made with Unity Showcase lineups ever! The lineup includes the first public showing of Otherside Entertainment’s ‘Underworld Ascendant’, hands-on with Playful’s ‘Super Lucky’s Tale’, and more.

Networking and Community

Our shows present the awesome opportunity to meet other creators in the game development space. This community means a lot to our company and these events are a great way to meet and engage with them. All conference attendees are invited to join us for the Unite Party on October 4 at 8:00PM at Fair Market. The party is the perfect time to get to know other great community influencers and to wind down after a busy day filled with learning.

We hope to see you soon in Austin!