HoloLens has the potential to become an amazing platform for gaming, and Microsoft is announcing a key partnership today to help that happen. It's working with Unity Technologies to bring HoloLens support to the Unity game engine. That means that developers will be able to work with a capable and popular engine while creating games for the upcoming augmented-reality headset. Unity sells itself as more than a game engine — and certainly, it can be used for more — but it's best known as the engine that sits behind popular titles like Hearthstone, Deus Ex: The Fall, and Hitman Go.

Unity's strategic technology VP, Steffen Toksvig, suggests that it expects to see the engine used for more than just games in a statement commenting on the partnership. HoloLens, he says, will allow developers to reimagine everything from social networks to remote health care. "Our work will ensure a seamless and efficient development experience that takes full advantage of the unique features and capabilities of Microsoft HoloLens," he says. Unity was already working with Microsoft to integrate its engine into Visual Studio, making this a pretty natural extension of the partnership.

Microsoft Build 2015: HoloLens Demo