What you need to know
- Azure PlayFab recently expanded its Party plugin for Unity to support Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation 4 and 5, Android, and iOS.
- The plugin already supported the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and Windows PCs.
- PlayFab is a suite of tools that can be used for game development and integrating online services with games.
Microsoft's Azure PlayFab made its Party plugin for Unity available to developers on more platforms over the weekend. Developers can now use PlayFab's Party plugin for Unity on Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation 4 and 5, Android, and iOS. Developers were already able to use the plugin on the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and Windows PCs. The addition of the new platforms makes it easier for developers to integrate Party with Unity titles across all major platforms.
If you're unfamiliar with PlayFab, it's a suite of tools that developers can use for game development and integrating online services with games. Our senior editor Jez Corden recently caught up with Microsoft's gaming cloud general manager James Gwertzman to discuss PlayFab. In that piece, Corden sums up the developer suite:
At its core, PlayFab is a suite of tools and services, similar to Microsoft Office, oriented around game development and online operations. If you're an Xbox gamer, you'll be familiar with things like Xbox Live party chat, messaging systems, DLC content management, in-game purchasing, online data and presence, and things of that nature. PlayFab offers these systems and tools to publishers like Ubisoft, EA, and others, to build into their own games and services. Some notable titles that use Azure and PlayFab include Rainbow Six Siege and No Man's Sky.
Now that there's a Party plugin for Unity for Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation 4 and 5, Android, and iOS, developers can help connect players together across platforms. They can also use PlayFab to drive engagement within games.
PlayFab joined Microsoft in January 2018. Its announcement of its updated plugin for Unity came in a blog post that celebrates the anniversary and discusses the growth and future of PlayFab.
That same piece also highlights the growth of PlayFab over the last three years. Since joining Microsoft, the number of titles using Azure PlayFab has increased by almost nine times. Monthly active users playing games that leverage Azure PlayFab have also grown by almost nine times.
