Unity has announced version 4 of its game engine, available now in pre-order form from the company's store. Unity is used in everything from indie iOS hits to browser-based MMOs, and the new version of the engine contains a slew of new updates, including a new animation tech called Mechanim, better visual quality and rendering, and new options for publishing online with Adobe's Flash and in Linux.

All developers who pay the rather heavy license fee for the engine (the Pro version, at least - the current version is available as a free download if you just want to play with it) will get access to the new beta for free. And Unity promises more news about what Unity 4 can do for game developers at the upcoming Unite12 event in Amsterdam later this year.