2021.1 Tech Stream for stunning visuals
The Tech Stream release is for creators who value exploring in-progress features to stay on the cutting edge. With our focus on increasing the stability and robustness of the Unity Editor, this release includes updates to the High-Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP), visual scripting, 2D tools, and more.
Additional features for incredible visuals
Recorder updates
Recorder is now a released package and includes new codecs like Apple ProRes for better compatibility with graphics, plus quality-of-life updates to enhance your capture experience.
Easily interoperate between tools
FBX Exporter is now a released package with integrated stability improvements. Export scene references for animation, and interoperate with popular DCC tools like Maya and 3ds Max. You can also record animation in-Editor to export references and re-key animations.
HDRP Static Shadow caster and improvements
You can now cache a portion of non-directional shadow maps for performance improvements. HDRP renders dynamic shadow casters into their respective shadow maps for each frame.
Sprite Editor
New slicing options allow you to slice sprite sheets that contain continuous neighboring isometric tiles. This helps to speed up the process of preparing isometric tilemaps if your art is done in one single image.
Learn more about 2021.1 Tech Stream
Frequently asked questions
If you are in production or close to launch, we recommend the latest LTS release. If you want to use the latest Unity features in your project or are just getting started with production, the Tech Stream is recommended. Learn more about our different releases here.
This release is for creators who value exploring in-progress features to stay on the cutting edge for their next project. This version is primarily recommended for the preproduction, discovery and prototyping phases of development. Learn more about our different releases here.
Long-Term Support (LTS) is the release for creators who value maximum stability and support for their next project. This is our default release and is primarily recommended for creators past the preproduction phase of development and who are about to lock in production on a specific version of Unity. Learn more about our different releases here.
In an effort to provide more clarity around package readiness and expected release date, better-quality packages, and as a direct response to feedback from you, we’ve created a more rigorous process for labeling packages, as well as a new categorization system. Learn more here.
Both our alpha and beta releases are open to everyone, so no signup is required. Get started by downloading them from the Unity Hub. Because there may be feature-stability issues with these early releases, we do not recommend them for projects in production, and we highly recommend that you back up any project before you open it with an alpha or beta release.