Dear Unity Developers,
We are excited to announce that the experimental Backend Access for Distributed Authority previously available through early access with Unity 6 Preview, is now open for public use. This marks an important milestone in our journey to simplify the creation of multiplayer games in Unity.
Distributed Authority leverages a backend service to deliver a frictionless developer experience out-of-the-box, handling complexities such as state synchronization and message routing. This service was initially in a closed alpha state, with access limited to select customers.
You can now explore and utilize the experimental Distributed Authority feature without the need for a sign-up process. Here’s what you need to get started:
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Install Unity 6 Preview via Unity Hub and create a new project or open an existing one.
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For new projects, Create a project in the Unity Hub and select your Unity Org. This automatically creates your project in the Unity Cloud Dashboard.
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For existing Unity projects:
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Create a project in the Unity Cloud Dashboard.
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Then link your project to your Unity Editor project.
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Open the Package Manager in your Unity 6 Preview project and select “Install package by name”:
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Install the Netcode for GameObjects Pre-Release Package:
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Name: com.unity.netcode.gameobjects
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Version: 2.0.0-pre.2
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Install the Multiplayer Services Experimental Package:
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Name: com.unity.services.multiplayer
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Version: 0.5.0
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You’re all set to start exploring Distributed Authority in your project!
As a reminder, Distributed Authority is currently in an experimental release phase. The backend service will be free of charge during this phase. We have set a soft limit of 25 CCU per session for development and testing purposes. If you anticipate needing higher per session CCU limits or have specific launch timelines you’d like to discuss, please reach out to us at da-early-access@unity3d.com. Our team is ready to work with you to ensure Distributed Authority meets your project’s needs.
For more information on how to utilize the Distributed Authority mode refer to our Quick Start documentation.
We encourage you to share your feedback, questions, and experiences with Distributed Authority in this thread or in the May 2024 Multiplayer Roadmap Update . Your input is invaluable in shaping the future of multiplayer development in Unity and is carefully reviewed for consideration towards our public roadmap page. In addition to the forums, you can also engage with us over on the Unity Multiplayer Networking Discord.
Stay tuned for more updates and announcements as we continue to enhance and expand our multiplayer offerings.
The Unity Multiplayer Team