We have good news to share with you today! Unity and Microsoft have reached an agreement that will open Xbox One even farther to developers using Unity.

Unity and Microsoft will now be working together to bring the Xbox One deployment add-on to all developers registered with the ID@Xbox program at no cost to the developers. This is huge news and means that everyone that’s part of that program, not just partners to Microsoft Games Studios, will be able to take advantage of Unity to create awesome gaming experiences for the Xbox One. On top of this, a special Xbox One version of the Unity Pro tools are also being made available for these same developers at no cost.

The Xbox One is a powerful platform and we’re building powerful tools to take advantage of all of the features that make it so special like the Kinect and SmartGlass. Production is well underway and is progressing faster than originally anticipated! Very early testing phases will begin soon with a broader beta program in 2014.

Our two companies are aligned in our goals of furthering the democratization of game development and the expanded role of independent studios in today’s gaming ecosystem. 2014 is going to be an amazing year for gamers, in large part because of the efforts of smaller studios and the creative works you’re producing.

In the meantime you should take a quick trip over to Microsoft’s blog to hear more about the expanded opportunities for developers looking to make games for Xbox One.

With much love.

David Helgason