Unity plans to go beyond game industry
Suzie Kim, country manager of Unity Technologies Korea, speaks during a press conference at the company's headquarters in Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of Unity Technologies Korea
By Baek Byung-yeul
Unity Technologies, a U.S.-based game engine maker, wants to secure more customers in non-game industries to diversify its business portfolio, the head of its Korean unit said Thursday.
Suzie Kim, country manager of the firm's Korean unit, said about 30 percent of the Korean unit's game engine sales falls outside the game industry, adding its efforts to extend its reach into other industries will lead to bigger opportunities.
"Thanks to the rapid improvement of our game-making engine, we have been expanding our footprint in non-game businesses such as media, engineering, entertainment and automotives," Kim told reporters during a press conference at the company's new headquarters in southern Seoul.
"Unity Korea's game engine sales going to non-game businesses have now improved to 30 percent up from 20 percent."
Noting that the firm's business growth stems from its cutting-edge game-making technology, Kim said, "The company will keep focusing on improving the performance of its game engine and trying to apply it to non-game businesses."
While the company's game engine has been used by about 50 percent of game developers around the world, Kim said Unity has shown a stronger presence here as about 65 percent of game developers in Korea are using its game engine.
The latest example of cooperation with automotive companies can be seen in BMW's 8 Series coupe as the company produced a digital twin for the German carmaker's luxury vehicle. A digital twin is a replica of a living or non-living entity and this technology is increasingly used in the automotive industry because the 3D render can be used not only for promotion but also design and engineering processes.
Showcasing a 3D render of the Korean unit's new headquarters, the company also boasted its engine can be utilized in construction and engineering as well.
Oh Ji-hyun, head of Unity Korea's evangelism team, which provides technical support to its game engine users, said the company's latest game engine Unity 2019.3 will enable users to produce their games more efficiently.
"The key feature of the latest updated version is the Adaptive Performance feature which enables developers to improve the performance of their games and manage battery consumption more efficiently on mobile devices," Oh said.
Baek Byung-yeul	baekby@koreatimes.co.kr