Unity 2.6 is out (and free!)

[Ulognep]

Dear awesome Unity community,

With great pleasure I will share that we have completed development on version 2.6 of Unity. This release includes some awesome new features for everyone like a brand new Animation Editor and Project search, along with additional Pro-only features such as a Profiler, Ambient Occlusion, and tons more.

You can read more about what's been packed into this release on the new 2.6 feature page.

But we're not quite done here... That's right, we've discontinued Unity Indie and replaced it with a feature-identical version of the Editor called simply "Unity". The difference? Unity is free for everyone. One more barrier to entry torn down.

For current Indie license holders, we've thought about you too! We're offering a discount on a Unity Pro upgrade for all Indie license holders. Until the end of the year, you can upgrade to Unity Pro for $1099. And if you've purchased Unity Indie in the past 60 days, you can opt to receive a full refund for your purchase instead. Those who qualify for the full refund should receive an email with details soon.

Finally, I'd just like to say thanks to everybody that uses, learns, and teaches Unity. Our community is about to grow again with new Unity users, and I'm just really proud of how the spirit of helping and supporting each other perseveres throughout each new influx. It's just great, plain and simple. I'm looking forward to playing all your brilliant creations!

[Ulognep]

Here are some more details of the rebate, directly from Nicholas (as posted in the Gossip thread)

[Hans]

Woh that is a radical change to Unity and the community.

But nice, even though i purchased the ide ver at the begin of the year - but hey times change

great work on the new release

Thanks for it all

Hans

[Death4Hire]

Hey Unity

You just made me angry. I've really worked hard on earning that amount of money for an Indie license this year. I live in a 3rd-world country and $200 is not an easy money to get.

Now, just months later you make it free and my only option now is to SPEND AGAIN on a huge amount of money to get the discounted prices of what I don't need (e.g. Pro or iPhone) -- and only for a limited time!

Like I said, I am not in a glorious country and that amount of money is precious to me. I NEED A REFUND!

- Andrei
from Philippines

[Smag]

So how does this refund work for people who have Unity Indie + Unity iPhone Basic? Can I get the refund for Indie, and still keep my Unity iPhone Basic license?

I'd prefer to upgrade to Pro, but can't afford it right now, so the refund would be a nice option.

Good luck with the new release!

[h2hjastermereel]

Yeah I don't want to be a hater but I am also quite disappointed.

I have Indie which I bought in March and though I don't want a refund I am chocked that almost all the new features in 2.6 are for Pro. I was looking forward to the Profiler and the SVN support....very lame. And why don't we get them? Because now it's free and the dev's can say - hey what do you expect for $0 - well some of us didn't pay 0$!! I would understand all the visual/graphic features to be in Pro only.

Very very disappointing, $1100USD is still a lot of money for a lot of us. And how long until Unity 3.0 and we have to pay out again. I think moving to Pro should be considerable less for Indie holders for that reason alone.

[Smag]

Well, you still got what you paid for, and unless they promissed that those features would be in the Indie version, I think it's a fair decission from them.

[h2hjastermereel]

My issue is not what I paid for I have no complaints there. My complaint is with 2.6 - they really should have broken the features out for Indie and Pro long ago to set expectations.

As we are getting closer to a 3.0 release who wants to spend $1100 and then have to shell out again in less than a year(?).

[Timmer]

In all fairness they always said that VCS support was going to be Pro-only.

Also, if you buys 2.6 Pro you'll get 3.0 at a discount (you can check out the store for the current discounts on the previous version).

I don't think 3.0 will come out anytime soon -- at the soonest, a year, although I could be wrong but since it's a huge update, I think it'll be later rather than sooner.

2.6 Basic has more features than 2.6 Indie. 2.6 Pro has even more.

[deadpoetz]

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

My friend and I (who are also from the Philippines), were still planning how to get the money for a Unity Indie license, and now you're giving it to us for free! We're so happy We want to hug you guys~!

Thank You! Thank You again!

[Armagon]

Ridiculous. We paid for something that is now free. Where's our refund, Unity?

[randyedmonds]

The people complaining on this thread about Unity (indie) now being free makes me ill. Geesh, I really hate stupid greedy people.

[PrvtHudson]

Not that I am really in a position to bargain, but as a hobbiest, I still can't afford $1100 to upgrade. I would for $650 though. This is the "Upgrade to Unity Pro from Unity 1.x Pro" price. I wonder how many other Indies would take advantage of a one time advantage like this. I don't want to miss the new 2.6 or whatever features ... This would also pretty much lock us into your 2-3 year upgrade loop.

You can't afford NOT to give us this one time low-low price, Unity, so act now ... I can't do this all day.

[pochimuffin]

Thanks UNITY for making it free! Although, it kinda sucks for those who paid for the Indie version, I still think it's an awesome move. Unity could be the new standard engine for web games! Yey for FREE UNITY!!!

[Minevr]

Supper good news~~~~....