Unity 2019.3 and newer versions use a new plug-in architecture to integrate our supported AR/VR platforms. This changes how Unity stores settings for AR/VR build targets, and how it loads SDKs for each officially supported platform.
Subsystems form the core part of this plugin architecture. These subsystems implement groups of related functionality such as camera, depth, display, and input, and expose them as low-level managed C# APIs to developers. This offers several benefits, including:
You can find out more about third-party AR/VR plug-ins and support for their hardware and software in the Unity Asset Store.
As part of migrating XR support to the new plug-in architecture, Unity 2019.3 and newer versions no longer support built-in platform packages. You can still install these packages from the Unity Package Manager and use them for the time being. However, Unity won’t be prioritizing bug fixes or other issues that affect them, and will remove them in future releases.
The following table details the upcoming deprecation and recommends possible next steps for different platforms.
| Deprecated | Recommendation |
|---|---|
|
Google VR Android Google VR iOS |
Developers with existing Daydream projects can continue to develop their VR experiences using Unity 2018.4 LTS. Cardboard developers can continue to develop their VR experiences using Unity 2018.4 LTS. The latest updates on a Cardboard Open Source XR Plugin for Unity can be found on the Google VR developer site. Unity 2019.3 and 2019.4 LTS still offer built-in support for Google VR for Android, but bugs and issues might not be prioritized and the package will be removed in future releases. |
|
Oculus Android Oculus Desktop |
Developers who use Unity 2019.3 and newer versions should use XR Management and the Oculus XR Plugin. |
| OpenVR Desktop | Developers with existing OpenVR projects should develop their VR apps using Unity 2018.4 LTS. Unity 2019.3 and 2019.4 LTS still offer built-in support for Open VR, but bugs and issues might not be prioritized and the package will be removed in future releases. More information regarding an OpenVR XR Plugin for Unity will be added at a later date. |
| Windows Mixed Reality | Oculus developers who use Unity 2019.3 and newer versions should use XR Management and the Windows XR Plugin. |
| Vuforia Engine AR | Developers with existing Vuforia projects should develop their AR apps using Unity 2018.4 LTS. Unity 2019.3 offers built-in support for Vuforia, but bugs and issues might not be prioritized and the package will be removed in future releases. |
Note that built-in platform packages and the new XR plugins (for example, “Google VR Android” and “Oculus XR Plugin”) are not compatible if you use them in the same Project.