Unity have just released the first beta of Unity 2021, predictably enough Unity 2021.1 Beta. This release has a heavy focus on stability, but contains improvements across the entire engine including HDRP, URP and the newly integrated Bolt, now called Visual Scripting.
Details of the beta from the Unity blog:
- Visual scripting: Create scripting logic without coding
- Graphics: Point Light Shadows on for the Universal Render Pipeline (URP) and static shadow casters for the High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP)
- Editor: Performance improvements, including quick search and global variables for localization
- Scripting: Faster IL2CPP, incremental C# script compilation, precision time API, and Code Coverage features
- Profiler: Can now profile multiple players and servers from one machine, plus improvements to Memory Profiler
- Artist tools: ProBuilder’s point-to-point cut, Cinemachine support for physical cameras, and Timeline improvements, plus greater stability in cinematic tools and Python for Unity
- 2D tools: Tilemap UX features, Sprite Swap workflow
- Platforms: General improvements
- Package lifecycle: Changes to how we roll out and classify new features and packages
This is the first step in implementing the 2021.1 road map, with further details available here. You can learn more about the Unity 2021.1 beta release in the video below. The Unity 2021.1 beta release is available for download in the Unity Hub.