Unity Summer of Code

What is USC?

Unity's Summer of Code is a program through which we offer indie & student developers the chance to get paid for doing something cool in Unity. You will suggest a project to work on, and if the project is accepted you will be paired up with a core Unity developer who will guide you in the implementation.

The goal of USC is make sure we have some great assets for other people to learn from — we've seen the amazing talent in our user community, so we invite you to join us and help us push the limits of what can be done in Unity.

Who Can Join ?

USC is intended as a program for indie developers and students. What makes an indie developer is not entirely well-defined — if you're the type of person coding barefoot or at home, chances are you're an indie. We're being deliberately vague here, so go with spirit and apply.

What do I Get

If your project is accepted, Unity will pay you either $5,000 USD or a Pro License and $4,000 USD — your choice.

How do I Apply ?

Formulate a concept and create a basic development plan.
Gather references to your previous Unity work.
Write up a CV covering related experience, focused on your Unity and 3D development.
Submit all of the above by writing usc@unity3d.com

We must have your application by 11:59pm CET on Monday, July 13th. Please carefully note the date and time, along with the time zone in question. You can submit any number of applications.

What Sort of Projects Are We Looking For ?

We are interested in projects that are broadly interesting and that offer reusable libraries and/or code that others can benefit from. As such, we are not looking for students to submit game proposals — this is not an opportunity to make your first game for hire. Additionally, we are not seeking purely documentation or artwork based efforts, after all, this program is called the "Unity Summer of Code" for a reason. Think more along the lines of code, scripts, tools, utilities or helpful libraries that can be used in a wide range of projects. Here are a few examples of the type of projects we are after:

Custom Unity editor extensions
These can include workflow enhancements, custom editor windows or other tools/utilities for use during the authoring process inside of Unity.
Integration with social networking sites/APIs
These can include tools or libraries that allow developers to easily integrate Unity content on to Facebook, MySpace or other such sites, or alternatively to use data and information from those inside of Unity content itself.
Special effects libraries
These can include things like custom shaders, pre-packaged particle system based effects and more. Think easy to use and properly optimized eye candy.
Core game code or logic
These can be AI logic routines, control mechanisms, scoring tracking/reporting information, usage and play time metrics or other code libraries for making games.
Template game engines
These would be turn-key, skinnable and customizable game engines — things like a base RTS engine or sprite-based side scroller. It's important to note that this is a template re-usable item, not a one-and-done game in itself.