Unity 2019.1 is now available with Lightweight Render Pipeline and 300+ improvements

Unity 2019.1 is now available.

This latest version includes a host of “notable changes for all developers”, particularly for those working on mobile platforms.

In a press release from Unity Technologies, the company confirmed Unity 2019.1 will include the release of the Lightweight Render Pipeline – which allows for “high-performance graphics optimised to meet the needs of mobile devices” – Mobile Adaptive Performance in preview, which “is already providing device-level optimiaation for apps made with Unity on Samsung’s Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Fold”. It also includes “more than 300 improvements”.

Key features and improvement include:

• Lightweight Render Pipeline (Release) – now production ready, a pre-built Scriptable Render Pipeline that is optimized for delivering high graphics performance. It’s scalable to mobile platforms, as well as high-end consoles and PCs.
• Burst Compiler (Release) – the Data-Oriented Tech Stack unlocks high-performance, multithreaded capabilities on Unity that scale all the way from the high-end to the low-end platforms, empowering developers to achieve high-end performance faster. The Burst Compiler is a component which compiles Entity Component System C# Jobs to leverage comparable performance to hand-optimized custom solutions.
• Shader Graph (Release) – artists now have the power to easily customize object surfaces without writing any code through a real-time drag-and-drop interface, encouraging experimentation and speeding up the iteration process.
• Mobile Adaptive Performance (Preview) – building on Samsung’s GameSDK, Unity and Samsung have partnered to help developers optimize their mobile game experiences on the Samsung Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Fold, balancing hardware demands to provide a better user experience on mobile. More handsets will be added in the future.
• Unity Physics (Preview) – Unity has partnered with Havok to build a world-class physics system on top of the Data-Oriented Tech Stack. The new physics system, Unity Physics, is available now, while Havok Physics will be available in June.
• AR Foundation Framework (Preview) – will allow developers to build once and deploy across ARKit and ARCore. It also helps them overcome some of the common challenges of AR development, such as anchoring digital objects in the real world, the visual fidelity of those digital objects, and more, saving hours of time and resources.

“With the release of Unity 2019.1, we are continuing to deliver on our promise of making Unity the most powerful and accessible real-time 3D development platform, regardless of team size or skill level,” said Brett Bibby, Vice President of Engineering, Unity Technologies. “Powered by production-ready versions of the Lightweight Render Pipeline, and the Burst Compiler from the Data-Oriented Tech Stack, Unity 2019.1 will help further expand our leadership in mobile, while also pushing the capabilities of our platform to provide even greater support for high-performance, high-fidelity creations.”

Unity 2019.1 is now available worldwide to download from the Unity Store.