Facebook and Unity teaming up to create desktop gaming platform

Unity, one of the most popular engines for making games, announced on Thursday that it was enhancing its relationship with Facebook and developing a new platform for creators to make web-based projects specifically for the social network site.

According to a press release from Facebook, the company is currently working on an "all-new PC gaming platform" specifically for people who want to develop games strictly for Facebook. On top of the new platform, Unity is looking into new distribution methods, which would allow developers to publish directly to the site without having to go through another hosting service.

The platform is currently in a closed-alpha build that Unity developers have been invited to test. The company is hoping to add more developers as more upgrades are made to the platform, but doesn’t have an estimated window for when that may happen.

Last year, Facebook announced that it had paid more than $250 billion to web-based game developers, and added that more than 650 million people were playing Facebook-exclusive games every month. Games like Candy Crush Saga, Clash of Clans and Farm Heroes Saga secure close to 50 million players each month, according to the website.

For developers interested in trying out the new version of Unity, the companies are accepting applications until Aug. 31.