Asset Bundle format replacement

Unity Engine
1

Hi, I’ve been using Addressables for a project for the past year, and it has evolved a lot and become much easier to use (and more documented!) but a big issue that still comes up (especially with a large project) is AssetBundles and how fun they are to deal with. Issues with lack of partial unloads and splitting up into more bundles, problems that have been explained more in depth in the recent blog post: Tales from the optimization trenches: Saving memory with Addressables

I’ve watched all the addressables videos Unity has on their channel for Addressables (multiple times) and when I was rewatching this Unite video from 2018 (at 33:45):

Bill states that as part of the roadmap in 2019, there were plans for a new file format which would solve all the issues that come with Asset Bundles. I can’t find any kind of updated roadmap or anything online (or in the forums here) that mentions this or an update.

Have we heard anything about this? It would be hugely helpful, I can’t imagine I’m the only one waiting for this.

1 Like
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I’ll flag this with the team for an update!

3

The replacement file format was put on the shelf in 2019. We are currently doing prototyping to evaluate if it’s worth reviving this effort, but we don’t know yet what exact gains a new format would give us, or when we could deliver it. To be clear, no new format could ‘solve all the issues’. Instead it would aim to reduce overhead, but managing content interdependencies will still be a complex problem