Unity Technologies has made the next version of its popular multiplatform game engine, Unity 4.0, available to the public for the first time with a free beta The development platform features a new character animation system (made possible by Unity's acquisition of animation tools company Mecanim), DirectX11 support, exporting options for Flash, a preview of game deployment to Linux, and more.Unity has billed the 4.0 engine as one that will make it possible for even small studios to create AAA-level titles, thanks to a promised boost to visual fidelity made possible by the platform's new features (e.g. real-time shadows on mobile) and optimizations.