Developing Cross-Platform Games with Unity: Strategies and Challenges

The increased demand for games among different age groups has been a great opportunity for businesses and entrepreneurs. Different players opt to play games on different platforms, hence, for developing a game cross-platform game development is a crucial thing to consider. Dedicated players always prefer to have a seamless gaming experience whether it is mobile, PC, or a web browser. Unity game engine is primarily for Unity game development that has enabled developers to launch games for different platforms.

During mobile game development, there are different cross-platform challenges and hence it needs to be overcome. To do so there are different unity cross-platform strategies that need to be considered to avoid such circumstances. Let us delve in-depth into cross-platform game development different challenges and strategies to follow.

Cross-Platform Game Development with Unity Challenges

1. Performance Issues for Specific Platforms

The hardware capabilities may vary depending on the platform used. In this case, a game that runs smoothly on a PC may have complexities playing on mobile. Hence, for this Unity performance optimization is a tricky part of Unity game scaling and development.

Solution:

• Optimize the images for good-quality graphics for different platforms
• Do with the rendering optimization using GPU instancing and dynamic batching
• Make use of fewer calculations on low devices

2. Input Handling Differences

This is the most common challenge seen with Unity game development. In the game, a control scheme that works for PCs where players make use of a mouse or keyboard may not work the same for the mobile touch controls.

Solution:

• For each platform integrate custom control schemes
• Take advantage of flexible input mapping using Unity’s new input system
• Make sure the controls for the players are configured

3. Managing Battery & Optimizing Memory

For the game, it required storage with good processing power. With some platforms, they have limited RAM that can cause a crash of the game or slow it down. Other cross-platform challenges include battery management. While playing the game it consumes more power and drains the battery of the device.

Solution:

• Do with the garbage optimization, compress texture, and asset bundling
• Make use of object pooling
• For battery management, close the unnecessary background tasks, lower graphic game settings optimizing frame rates.

4. Application Testing on Different Platforms

Unity games with unity-specific features require cross-platform testing on different platforms and devices. This is quite a challenging and time-consuming task.

Solution:

• To automate builds on different platforms make use of Unity Cloud build
• For testing use device emulators or testing services like Firebase Test Lab
• For accurate performance, test on real devices

5. App Store Optimization & Guidelines

Whether you develop Unity for iOS and Android, meeting the guidelines of the app store is a challenging task. Before publishing the game, it must meet the guidelines, monetization policies, and other security measures.

Solution:

• Make sure the game meets the app store guidelines including Google Play and Apple App Store.
• Data privacy laws like GDPR, CCPA
• For ads, in-app purchases & analytics the SDK use must be platform-specific

6. Unified Codebase

Maintaining a single codebase for different platforms can be a challenging task.

Solution:

• For different platforms, there should be separate configuration files
• Keep platform-dependent code isolated

Also read: Why Choose Unity for Your Next Game Development Project?

Strategies for Cross-Platform Game Development with Unity

1. Cross-Platform Development Planning

Starting with the development using the Unity game engine it is important to consider the requirements as stated below –

• Hardware: Get configurations about CPU, GPU, and RAM for different devices
• Game Input: The type of game input for playing. Whether it is keyboard, mouse, touch or other game controllers.
• Screen Resolution: Ensuring consistent UI with aspect ratio
• Unity Platform Specific Features: Adding specific features like in-app purchases, cloud storage, etc.

2. Modular Codebase

During the cross-platform game development, it must contain modular and reusable code. Some of the principles include –

• For different platform-dependent code make use of abstraction and interfaces.
• Make use of functionality for specific platforms. In the case of Android use UNITY_ANDROID and for iOS use UNITY_IOS
• Manage code at ease with MVC (Model-View-Controller) or ECS(Entity-Component-System)

3. UI/UX Design

For best results, the UI/UX of the game must support different resolutions of different devices. It includes –

• Make use of responsive UI elements
• Don’t use hardcode UI values
• Before deployment test the UI layouts on different devices

4. Graphic Optimization

For smooth gameplay, it is important to have performance optimization for the gameplay. It includes –

• For better rendering include a texture compression model
• To reduce allocating of memory make use of object pooling
• Monitor the performance of the game with Unity’s Profile Debugger

5. Managing Inputs & Controls

There are different inputs required for different types of devices. In the case of PC gaming, it requires a keyboard and mouse. Touch for mobile & game controllers for consoles. The input system depends on the type of platform used.

6. Data Management

When dealing with mobile game development, managing data for cross-platform is an important thing to consider. It must support cloud synchronization for platform-specific storage

• PlayerPrefs: For small data storage
• JSON Serialization: For larger data storage
• Cloud Data: Cloud storage services that include Firebase, Google Play Games, or iCloud for cross-platform sync.

7. Cross-Platform Multiplayer

Make use of cross-platform multiplayer frameworks like Photon for GameObjects. The game must support cross-platform compatibility and can be played on PC, console, or mobile.