The new Unity 6 demo looks stunning, but will it be enough to convince developers that they should return?

Many people think that Unreal Engine 5 or Ubisoft Snowdrop, or Guerrilla Games Decima are the best 3D game engines for creating ultra-realistic graphics. Unity has released a new tech demonstration, Time Ghost, to show that its next-gen Engine, Unity 6, can compete with any of these engines.

The video above shows some of the things Unity 6 is supposed to be capable of. An Intel Core i9-14900K and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 provide the computing power for it all. It's more of a cinematic piece than a gameplay-focused one, but it gives me strong Death Stranding or Battlefield 1 vibes.

The best parts for me are the lush vistas with lush vegetation, as well as the character, fabric, and hair animations. It looks spectacular, but it should given that Unity wants to lure developers away from Unreal Engine 5 with its next-generation engine.

Unreal Engine is the engine I use for my games and GPU architectures. I have been using it for a few years, and I prefer it to Unity, even though Unity is easier to learn and get started with. Unity is the engine of choice for many developers, and it's still a good option if you just want to make a 2D game that can be played on a variety of platforms.

It used to be but then Unity's bosses made a decision to change its pricing scheme, which was universally criticized by the industry. This led to significant layoffs and a resignation of the CEO. Unity has returned to the way things were a year after the debacle. However, with so much damage done, it will need something special to attract developers back.

Unity 6 is the launchpad to make this happen. Unity has produced some fantastic demos (Enemies is a personal favourite) but they are all in the super graphics category. Unity as an engine was not heavily favoured in this area.

Unreal Engine, for example, was used to create CGI effects and environments for The Mandalorian TV show, Westworld and Fallout. Unity, on the contrary, has been used only for a few short features.

Unity has a huge list of games that use it. Despite its reputation as a 2D-only software, many fantastic 3D games use the software. Subnautica, Escape from Tarkov and Rust are some of the best examples. Unity releases demos that aren't replete with cutting edge graphics. I find this odd.

I think that Unity will have a hard time bringing back experienced developers, no matter how great Unity 6 is. Who is to say Unity won't change the price scheme again? It's a pity because, as much as I love UE5, I don't want to see the game industry dominated by one engine.