Unity inks Union deals with Nokia and Roku

Engine maker Unity has used its Unite user conference to detail new Union deals with mobile giant Nokia and streaming service provider Roku.

The Union business model sees Unity syndicating bundles of its customers’ games to a multitude of platforms including web-TV, set-top boxes, tablets and mobiles.

The newest Union deals will see Unity games delivered on both the Nokia N9 smartphone and the Roku 2 streaming unit, which allows users to access music, video and games through their televisions.

“Roku is the gold standard in streaming TV entertainment and now that games are supported, we are excited to partner with them to introduce Unity-authored games for play on the TV,” said David Helgason, CEO, Unity Technologies. “It’s exciting to be able to expand Union’s distribution potential by reaching Roku customers across the US.”

The Unity co-founder added: "We are glad to announce that we will bring Unity-authored titles to Nokia’s N9 device. The N9 is an awesome entry into a very competitive market and we’re looking forward to providing Nokia with some of the best titles that Unity developers have created.”

The deals mark some of the most significant in the first 11 months of the Union business model, which was announced at last year’s Unite event. In an interview to be published in the November issue of Develop magazine, Helgasson admitted that while Union is meeting the company’s expectations, the bureaucratic processes demanded by some larger platform holders has caused frustrating slowness. He did not suggest Nokia or Roku were one of those bureaucratic organisations.