YoYo Games plans to compete with Unity
The company has released a multiplatform commercial version of its engine with a long history – GameMaker: Studio. The company’s first major client was the popular German publisher HandyGames.
Anyone who was interested in game development at school may remember the primitive GameMaker level designer, which allowed making simple platformers. Since then, the project has grown noticeably. And now it’s not a constructor, but, as YoYo Games positions it, “the simplest, fastest and most powerful 2D package available on the market.”
GameMaker: Studio combines a simple drag-and-drop interface with support for a wide range of platforms, ranging from HTML5 and Facebook to Android, iOS, Windows, OS X and even Symbian.
“The performance gain when using our package can reach up to 80%,” says Michael Dailly, head of development, also known for working on projects such as Lemmings and GTA.
“A full-fledged prototype of the game can be made in just a few hours. The finished project is a matter of several weeks. The package’s support for several platforms at once allows you to release games on them simultaneously, without any delays,” adds Dailly.
In the future, updates will be released for GameMaker: Studio, including support for various advertising and payment systems.
Full list of features:
– export of native iOS and Android packages
– turnkey HTML5 code development for Facebook
– export of Windows and Mac executables
– powerful scripting language and code editor
– physics support
– internal graphic editor
– advanced IDE
The basic version of GameMaker: Studio, which allows you to run the game on Windows and OS X, is available for $99. The HTML5-enabled version will cost another $99. If you are going to work on a mobile project, then you will have to pay for another $199 for the iOS or Android version.
HandyGames has already become interested in packages and, judging by the official comments of its representatives, is developing its new role-playing game on GameMaker: Studio.
