What cards will the engine used by both Tencent and miHoYo play at this conference?

As one of the most important game development engines globally, Unity has played a pivotal role in the history of China’s game industry. Since Unity officially entered the Chinese market in 2012, the number of registered developers has surged from an initial 200,000 to 5 million today. This growth not only reflects the golden age of China’s game industry but also chronicles the journey of countless development teams from their early days to success.

It is no exaggeration to say that over the past decade, the Unity engine has been the backbone of China’s gaming industry. Data from 2024 shows that 76% of newly released mobile games in China were developed using the Unity engine, and 73% of the world’s top 1,000 mobile games were built on Unity.

Building on a strong industrial foundation, Unity China was officially established and began operating independently in 2022. Two years later, Unity Engine—a game engine specifically designed for the Chinese market—was launched. To date, Unity Engine has achieved breakthrough milestones, including 400,000 downloads, nearly 30,000 monthly active developers, and over 13 million app downloads, becoming a powerful tool for Chinese game developers.

The Unite 2025 conference, set to take place on October 23–24 at the W Shanghai Bund, marks the milestone of its tenth anniversary. It will not only be a major event for technical exchange but also a key platform for Unity Engine to showcase the results of its “global technology synchronization and local innovation” initiative.

01

Cutting-Edge Technology: Powered by AI, Keeping Pace with the Times

The core value of Unity Engine lies in maintaining technical alignment with the global version of Unity while also delivering in-depth innovations tailored to the unique needs of the Chinese market. Zhang Junbo, CEO of Unity China, has clearly stated: “The unique demands of the Chinese gaming market are becoming a global trend. The explosive growth of mini-games from zero to 40 billion yuan, the global expansion of the HarmonyOS system, and the widespread adoption of smart cockpits in new energy vehicles—these opportunities unique to China require specialized technical support.”

At the Unite 2025 Engine Track, leading industry experts gathered to deliver in-depth presentations covering a wide range of topics, including AI tools, engine features, creative workflows, and performance optimization.

When it comes to cutting-edge technology, AI is an unavoidable topic and one of the areas where building local capabilities is most critical. Unite 2025 has clearly placed AI technology front and center, making it arguably "the edition with the highest concentration of AI content."

At this conference, Unity Engine will unveil a newly upgraded suite of AI tools, providing end-to-end coverage from development Q&A to asset creation. On October 23, a software engineer from Unity China will deliver a detailed presentation on two core products during the Unity Engine session:

As an intelligent Q&A assistant deeply integrated into the Tuanjie Engine ecosystem, Tuanjie AI Assistant not only provides instant responses to routine questions regarding code debugging and feature implementation, but more importantly, it now supports Agent Mode. This means developers will gain a true “AI development partner” capable of providing continuous, context-aware intelligent assistance throughout complex development processes.

Making its debut, Unity AI Graph will focus on AIGC generation capabilities, providing developers with an efficient AI workflow editing environment that supports the automated generation of various types of content. From concept design to asset creation, AI Graph will significantly streamline traditional asset production workflows, enabling ideas to be transformed into actual game content more quickly.

In addition to its own strategic initiatives, the involvement of local ecosystem partners is a key component of Unity Engine’s AI strategy. For example, 3D content generation has long been one of the most time-consuming and labor-intensive aspects of game development, and the integration of AI is expected to significantly boost efficiency. In this regard, the lineup of speakers at this year’s Unite conference is truly impressive, featuring representatives from major companies and leading players in the 3D AI generation field.

In terms of rendering technology, the Unity Engine has taken a pragmatic approach, planning to align its core rendering features with the global version in the second half of this year. These include GPU rendering optimizations and cross-platform super-resolution. At the same time, it will introduce two proprietary technologies: real-time dynamic global illumination and parallel rendering. The former enables ray-tracing-like effects on mobile devices, while the latter reduces stuttering by fully utilizing multi-core CPUs.

This technical strategy reflects Unity China’s understanding of the market: the Chinese gaming market remains dominated by mobile games, and achieving better visual effects within the constraints of limited hardware is the top priority for developers. Compared to pursuing the highest technical specifications, practicality and value for money may be more highly valued.

One of Unity Engine’s most competitive advantages is its comprehensive cross-platform support. From mini-games to mobile devices, and from HarmonyOS to PC platforms, Unity Engine delivers true “develop once, deploy everywhere” capabilities. Developers need only maintain a single set of project files; the engine automatically optimizes and adapts to the hardware characteristics of different platforms, compressing the multi-platform porting process—which traditionally takes months—into a one-click conversion.

At the Unity Engine session of Unite 2025, Unity China’s technical team will provide a detailed overview of the implementation of these cross-platform technologies and explain how they can help developers streamline multi-platform development. Technical experts from leading game companies such as Tencent’s TiMi Studio and NetEase will also share their practical experiences with cross-platform development using the Unity Engine.

02

Localization Strategy: Tailored to Meet the Needs of Chinese Developers

In 2022, Unity China was officially established and began operating independently, launching the development of a localized engine. Unity China’s independent operation represents more than just an organizational restructuring; it signifies a deep understanding of and rapid response to the needs of the Chinese market. The multiple localization-focused sessions specifically organized for this year’s Unite conference fully reflect Unity China’s dual mission: to preserve key features of the global version while developing innovative technologies tailored to local needs.

The explosive growth of the mini-game market is a unique phenomenon in China’s gaming industry. Unity China has keenly identified this trend; the number of mini-games developed using the Unity engine has now exceeded 1,400. These games fully support major traffic platforms such as WeChat, Douyin, and Kuaishou, and Unity China continues to expand into smaller traffic channels like TapTap and Xiaomi.

Zhang Junbo, CEO of Unity China, has a clear and well-defined strategic vision in this regard. In an interview, he stated: “We have unified and abstracted functions such as login, advertising, and data transmission across various platforms, converting them into Unity code. Developers only need to write the code once, and we automatically adapt it to the formats required by each platform, thereby reducing the technical burden on developers and improving efficiency.” This “develop once, deploy across multiple platforms” approach has significantly lowered the barrier to entry for mini-game development.

During the Mini-Games track at Unite 2025, Unity China’s core development team will present nearly 20 technical sessions, offering in-depth analyses of key technical aspects of mini-game development from various perspectives, including performance optimization and development tools. For example, the Shiyue team will share insights from the *Eternal Blue Planet* case study, demonstrating how to use the Unity engine to faithfully reproduce app-level visual effects on mini-game platforms.

With the rapid development of the HarmonyOS system, game developers are facing entirely new challenges in platform adaptation. Unity China is fully prepared to address these challenges. At the Unity Engine session, technical experts will provide a detailed overview of the features of open-source HarmonyOS and Unity Engine’s adaptation solutions, helping developers quickly enter this promising new ecosystem.

This forward-looking strategy demonstrates Unity China’s deep understanding of the local market. Just as Unity’s early investment in the mobile platform helped Chinese developers capitalize on the mobile gaming boom, its current support for the HarmonyOS system may help developers seize the next major platform opportunity.

In addition, game publishing services are a key component of Unity China’s comprehensive industry ecosystem. At the Publishing Growth Session on October 23, the head of Unity China’s publishing technology platform will demonstrate how Unity China provides technical support throughout the entire game lifecycle. From game optimization to rapid platform integration, from data-driven operations to AI-powered business value enhancement, and from intelligent compliance management to ecosystem resource collaboration, Unity China is building a comprehensive publishing support system.

This transition from a pure engine provider to a full-service provider reflects Unity’s deep understanding of the needs of China’s gaming industry. In an increasingly competitive market, having a good product alone is no longer enough; developers now face new challenges in efficient distribution, targeted operations, and sustained growth. By integrating its technical platform and ecosystem resources, Unity China provides developers with a one-stop solution.

03

Looking Ahead: Driven by Global Alignment and Local Insights

From the perspective of an industry observer, the localization efforts of Unity China and the Unity Engine are undoubtedly worth noting. Striking a balance between globalization and localization, and bridging the gap between technological innovation and market demand, are highly challenging tasks, yet they represent an inevitable direction for future development.

Unite 2025 is not just a technology conference; it is also a comprehensive showcase of Unity China’s strategic direction. As evidenced by the program, Unity China is firmly pursuing a development path driven by both “global alignment and local insights.”

Unity’s strategic initiatives in areas such as mini-games, HarmonyOS, and AI demonstrate a clear strategic vision. The upcoming Unite 2025 conference will serve as a key window into the execution of Unity’s China strategy. From technology announcements to case studies, and from ecosystem partnerships to future roadmaps, this information will help the industry better understand Unity’s development direction and market positioning.

For Chinese game developers, having another option is always a good thing. The emergence of the Unity Engine not only provides new technical tools but, more importantly, offers new approaches to development. At a time when the game industry is facing growth bottlenecks, this kind of innovation driven by local needs may well inject new momentum into the sector.