Little under four months ago, Unity 5.6 hit beta. As I mentioned back then, it would be the last 5.x build. Ever. Replacing it? Unity 2017, which is almost ready for a beta release, and boy is it ever looking groovy – even if only a tiny portion of its feature list has been revealed at this point.
HD, AR, VR, and so on. Mere buzzwords to show off with, or something potentially awesome? Eh, a bit of both in Unity 2017, actually, as this release is set to include a “new scriptable rendering pipeline”. Yup. Something about extending render loops. Tech speak. Gotta love it.
We’re excited to enter this new generation of Unity with Unity 2017, entering beta in April. We’ll continue our commitment to improve key areas like graphics, stability, efficiency, and platform growth for Unity’s growing audience of creators, artists, and animators.
On top of that, what was revealed about Unity 2017 makes it seem like this ‘update’ will be a visual storyteller’s dream come true. I mean, crafting cinematics (yay, cut-scenes!) is going to be easier, courtesy of Timeline, a drag-and-drop controlled “track-based sequencing tool”. Or how about Cinemachine, a camera capable of following the player around (I think), among other things, because… everyone wants a stalker camera, right? But seriously, fun new stuff coming!
(Source: Unity blog)