In an unexpected turn, Apple is enhancing its visionOS platform by integrating it directly into the Godot open-source game engine. This addition broadens the toolkit available to developers aiming to create content for Apple’s headset.
Godot, similar to popular engines like Unity and Unreal, offers a suite of development tools that streamline the process of creating real-time games and applications. What sets Godot apart, though, is its open-source nature, allowing anyone to utilize the engine and share games made with it without any cost. Additionally, this openness means developers can collaborate to improve features and fix issues for the community’s benefit.
Apple’s decision to infuse visionOS support into Godot is a notable departure from their usual approach, empowering developers to craft and share Vision Pro content using this engine.
Ricardo Sanchez-Saez, an Apple software engineer, recently revealed the company’s intentions to contribute visionOS support to Godot as an open-source project. He explained this addition would unfold in two main phases. Initially, developers will be able to run Godot-built games within flat windows on visionOS. The subsequent phase will enable the creation of fully immersive visionOS applications.
Given the nature of open-source development, integrating Apple’s contributions into the official Godot release will take time, and there isn’t a fixed timeline for completing the project.
With this integration, Godot joins the ranks of Unity, Unreal Engine, and Apple’s own tools like Xcode and Reality Composer Pro, offering developers diverse options for building applications for Vision Pro.
Moreover, Godot isn’t limited to visionOS; it can also be employed to develop apps for major VR platforms like Quest and PC VR.
