Unity - does indie gaming's biggest engine have an image problem?

Chief executive John Riccitiello explains why being popular with small independent studios is a mixed blessing

Most people who play video games have played a game made with Unity - even if they don't know it. Originally launched in 2005, this adaptable, cross-platform game engine is freely available to amateur coders and can be bought for just $1500 by small professional studios, allowing both groups to quickly develop new projects without having to build their own underlying 3D graphics technologies - saving years of work and many thousands of dollars. Consequently, Unity has been a hugely important part of the indie scene, providing the tech behind everything from Gone Home to City Skylines, Pillars of Eternity and Fallout Shelter.

But the openness and accessibility of the engine comes at a cost. For many PC gamers, the tech has become synonymous with cheap, quickly produced games, thrust onto the Steam game download service by inexperienced developers. Although the industry recognises the benefits of the engine - there are now over 4.5m Unity developers worldwide - consumers are becoming wary. Unity has an image problem.