In an exciting and unexpected move, Apple is stepping into the open-source arena by adding support for its visionOS platform to the Godot game engine. This expansion broadens the toolkit available for developers aiming to create content for Apple’s latest headset.
Just like the widely-used Unity and Unreal engines, Godot offers a suite of tools designed to simplify the process of building real-time games and applications. However, unlike its counterparts, Godot is completely open-source, allowing anyone to use, modify, and share games built with it at no cost. This open-source nature also means developers can contribute their own features and fixes for everyone’s benefit.
Breaking with its usual approach, Apple has opted to directly incorporate visionOS support into Godot, enabling developers to leverage the engine for crafting and sharing Vision Pro content.
Ricardo Sanchez-Saez, a software engineer at Apple, recently unveiled the company’s plan to integrate visionOS support into Godot as part of an open-source contribution. This initiative will unfold in two major phases: initially enabling games made with Godot to run in flat windows on visionOS, followed by supporting fully immersive visionOS applications.
Given the open-source nature of the project, incorporating Apple’s contributions into Godot’s production version will take some time. As of now, there’s no set timeline for when the project will be completed.
With this addition, Godot joins a prestigious lineup of development tools for Vision Pro, standing alongside Unity, Unreal Engine, and Apple’s proprietary tools like X-code and Reality Composer Pro.
Furthermore, Godot remains versatile, supporting app development for leading VR platforms like Quest and PC VR, further demonstrating its capabilities in the evolving gaming landscape.
