Unity, Unreal and Cocos2d get a bit cozier with Visual Studio

Microsoft has cut deals with Epic, Unity and Chukong Technologies to integrate their respective game engines more tightly with its Visual Studio development tools.

Developers who use any of these tools will be affected in the coming weeks, as Microsoft intends to roll out versions of its Visual Studio Community toolset that can be co-installed with the latest versions of Unity, Cocos2d and the Unreal Engine. 

"Each of these top gaming engines' installers will now offer the ability to co-install Visual Studio Community on Windows, along with the plug-ins required for Windows developers building for these engines," writes Microsoft Developer Division exec S. Somasegar. "In addition, we will make it easier to discover and use the tools for Unity, Unreal and Cocos2d from within Visual Studio 2015."

This effort to strengthen ties with some of the leading game engine makers comes as Microsoft is preparing to launch the latest version of its toolset, Visual Studio Community 2015, later this year.