The Unity game development engine is often praised for its flexibility in development and used for building mobile titles. Unity confirmed recently that the release of Unity 4 will also support Microsoft's upcoming operating system, Windows 8.

Unity announced the news at its Unite conference in Amsterdam. Support for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 will surface during Unity 4's "release cycle". On the FAQ page at Unity 3D, Unity said it will announce a shipping date "soon".

"Our mission at Unity has always been to provide solutions for developers to effortlessly bring their work to as many different platforms as possible. The Unity community has been asking for access to Windows Phone and have been eagerly anticipating the release of Windows 8," Unity Technologies CEO David Helgason said. Unity also claimed Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 are two of "the most eagerly awaited platform additions within the Unity development community".

"We are excited that that Unity community will now be given the opportunity to develop world class titles for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. The number of high-quality Unity-authored games for PC, Xbox, and mobile devices already created is staggering and we're looking forward to seeing these products appear in the Windows Store and the Windows Phone marketplace," Senior Director of Windows App Marketing at Microsoft John Richards added.

Unity 4 will also have Linux support, an operating system recently adopted by Half-Life developers Valve.

The "Butterfly Effect" Unity 4 tech demo (below) surfaced and ran on DirectX 11, detailing the journey of a man from waking up, then causing mass chaos in a city before returning to bed again.

How well Unity 4 will compete with the next-generation of gaming engines remains unknown. DICE may update its Frostbite 2 engine, rather than launching a new engine entirely, while the increased hardware will mean exciting possibilities for developers like 343 Industries that are pushing the Xbox 360 to its limit.

Unity is basically a free game engine, though platform licenses start from $400 and rise to $1500.