Unity Technologies has revealed their next engine iteration at GDC 2014 with Unity 5. It is currently available to pre-order and permits access to existing updates and Unity 4.

Some of the new features include the Enlighten lighting system, physically based shaders, a unified shader architecture, in-editor real-time lightmap previews, a new Audio mixer and much more. It is also a 64-bit engine for the first time and include support for Nvidia PhysX 3.3 and integration with SpeedTree.

David Helgason, CEO of Unity Technologies, stated that, “Every time we ship a new version of Unity, we’re looking to empower developers with technology that’s more powerful and easier to apply than ever before. With the huge additions of physically-based shading, lighting workflows, a new platform, and a new built-in method for user acquisition, we’re improving Unity dramatically from both a creative and business perspective.”

The release of Unity 5.0 will also see the introduction of Unity Cloud for cross-promotion of mobile games to add developers. Check out some of the newer features in the screenshots below.

Unity Technologies has announced its acquisition of Applified, which handles Everyplay and GameAds, the former allowing players to share replays with each other and the latter to create video ads for monetizing non-paying users. While Everyplay will now be a part of of the Unity dev platform, GameAds will be heading to Unity Cloud.

CEO of Unity Technologies David Helgason stated that, “Unity was founded to democratize game development, and we are incessantly searching for tools that can make our community more successful. By welcoming Everyplay to the Unity platform, we’re arming our developers with an incredibly powerful and authentic way to connect with a rapidly growing community of passionate gamers.”

Applifier CEO Jussi Laakkonen said, “The challenge for today’s developers doesn’t end with releasing awesome games – they also need to attract and retain legions of true fans. We are thrilled to join forces with Unity and, with the help of the incredible Unity community, overcome these important challenges together.”