Unity engine drama (giga nerd shit within)

[Brian Fantana 6678]

I have to say that this is one of the most incredibly MBA-brained, greedy, and delusional acts of pure hubris/self sabotage I have ever seen.

If you're unfamiliar with what Unity is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_(game_engine)

TLDR it's a very popular video game engine that many games use, especially a shit ton of mobile games, but also some PC/console titles.

This week, they have really stepped in it:

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/unity-adding-a-fee-for-each-time-a-game-is-installed

The GDPR question went unanswered. Unity's reply tweets were subsequently deleted. Damage control has ensued.

https://www.axios.com/2023/09/13/unity-runtime-fee-policy-marc-whitten

https://www.pcgamesn.com/cult-of-the-lamb/deleted

Quote

Cult of the Lamb dev Massive Monster says it will delete the roguelike on January 1 following Unity’s plan to charge game-makers per player download.

 

[UTGrad98 2271]

We are using unity to develop our game. I'll be following this quite closely 

[Brian Fantana 6678]

12 minutes ago, UTGrad98 said:

We are using unity to develop our game. I'll be following this quite closely 

I have a friend with a startup doing the same. I'm anxious for them.

[bernorange 8359]

Lulz...  BoA pimping Unity for their profit potential.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/15/this-video-game-developer-is-poised-to-ride-the-innovation-wave-bank-of-america-says.html

[SimonBolivar 10957]

Same CEO that wanted to charge players to reload in games correct?

[atomheartbevo 89625]

1 hour ago, SimonBolivar said:

Same CEO that wanted to charge players to reload in games correct?

Same CEO (and his management buddies) that sold stock a week or two before this was announced.

https://www.eurogamer.net/unity-bosses-sold-stock-days-before-development-fees-announcement-raising-eyebrows

I fucking hate John Riccitiello - he was running the show when EA bought some amazing studios so they could shut them down.

[Captainant 27625]

Hah and wouldn't you know it, this greedy leech is now doing the classic pivot to "well you can avoid these fees if you just use our ad platform!"

Genuinely curious if there's legal action to be taken against Unity if they follow through - they're post-hoc changing their licensing terms for existing games, and attempting to break up existing ad contracts that mobile game developers have.

Unity is trying to sacrifice their desktop market share to greedily suck up mobile ad revenue.

[Brian Fantana 6678]

Most of their revenue is from ads and mobile games, so it makes logical sense that's where they would go, but lol fuck off

[Captainant 27625]

So there was a credible death threat at the Unity offices today...

 

From an employee.

The workers know they're about to get downsized by this business ghouls fuckery

[Brian Fantana 6678]

On 9/15/2023 at 9:28 PM, Captainant said:

So there was a credible death threat at the Unity offices today...

 

From an employee.

The workers know they're about to get downsized by this business ghouls fuckery

Quote

Update: San Francisco police told Polygon that officers responded to Unity’s San Francisco office “regarding a threats incident.” A “reporting party” told police that “an employee made a threat towards his employer using social media.” The employee that made the threat works in an office outside of California, according to the police statement.

In other words, they took an employee action and tried to turn it into a sympathy story about gamers being too mean to them.

[atomheartbevo 89625]

We have heard you. We apologize for the confusion and angst the runtime fee policy we announced on Tuesday caused. We are listening, talking to our team members, community, customers, and partners, and will be making changes to the policy. We will share an update in a couple of days. Thank you for your honest and critical feedback.

 

[Hawndoh 2386]

Even if they backtrack I don't know how any developer could trust them moving forward 

[atomheartbevo 89625]

17 minutes ago, Hawndoh said:

Even if they backtrack I don't know how any developer could trust them moving forward 

Absolutely.  Especially since they were selling some of their stock ahead of the announcement.  That's shady as shit.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10227]

Unity is run by a bunch of greedy ass clowns (run by the top ass clown in the industry). They keep doling out stock compensation to their way too many employees like its candy. Developers should fear Unity going bankrupt more than anything. Interest rates jump up and they will enter a "we need more cash but can't afford it" death spiral.

There is no reason they shouldn't be profitable currently with the revenue already being generated. Revenue isn't their problem.

[Captainant 27625]

Lulz unity is trying desperately to unring that bell. They're no longer doing retroactive fees on all games and offering a normal revenue share option

https://kotaku.com/unity-engine-runtime-fees-install-changes-devs-1850865615

But the damage is done and the trust is burned. 

[atomheartbevo 89625]

2 hours ago, Captainant said:

Lulz unity is trying desperately to unring that bell. They're no longer doing retroactive fees on all games and offering a normal revenue share option

The retroactive fees were the chef’s kiss.

And some developers are just now discovering that John Riccitiello is the guy who, while running EA, talked about how if somebody had been playing Battlefield for hours, they should pay a small fee to reload their weapons.  King of micro-transactions.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10227]

5 hours ago, Captainant said:

Lulz unity is trying desperately to unring that bell. They're no longer doing retroactive fees on all games and offering a normal revenue share option

https://kotaku.com/unity-engine-runtime-fees-install-changes-devs-1850865615

But the damage is done and the trust is burned. 

Yeah, no way to put that genie back. They showed were they are willing to go. Pushback only bought developers some time. Unity dug it's own grave.

[Captainant 27625]

https://venturebeat.com/games/john-riccitiello-steps-down-as-ceo-of-unity-after-pricing-battle/

Aaaaaaand he's outta there!

[UTGrad98 2271]

It was the only recourse they had.

[bernorange 8359]