Indie developers have provided a backbone for the virtual reality (VR) industry, ensuring head-mounted displays (HMD) have a raft of content available for consumers to purchase. But these studios need support, creating videogames aren’t cheap and any help along the way is appreciated. Today, Simplygon a specialist in automatic real-time 3D data preparation and optimization has announced it’ll offer its flagship product for free to indie developers and educational or non-commercial organizations.

Currently Simplygon’s software is used to optimise graphics performance across various platforms, with the company stating more than 80 percent of top gaming publishers utilise it across 300 AAA titles.

These companies include publishers such as Microsoft, Sony and Telltale Games; game engines like CryEngine, Lumberyard, Stingray, Unity, Unreal Engine 4; and hardware manufacturers HTC Vive, Microsoft HoloLens and Oculus.

The move will allow small studios to easily integrate industry leading software into their pipeline. And for small businesses, enterprises and videogame studios that are bigger than indie devs a new pricing structure will be offered

“Virtual and augmented reality is a major focus for a lot of companies, not just in gaming, but also in areas such as retail, automotive and aerospace,” said Matt Connors, CEO of Simplygon. “Optimization plays a huge role in further developing content across various platforms. The ability for us to provide a level playing field to developers is a move we believe will change the future of the industry, seeing virtual worlds soon becoming a mainstay in living rooms, retail stores and even offices.”

“Simplygon’s polygon-reduction technology has been key to optimizing performance on Paragon and other leading-edge Epic games,” said Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games, the creators of Unreal Engine. “We’re super-happy that this technology will now be much more widely available to indies, students, and academics for free! This puts world-class performance and visual fidelity within the reach of far more developers.”

If you’re a videogame or non-commercial developer interested in trying out Simplygon, head here to learn more. While for small business and enterprise information, head here.

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