arstechnica.com

ultrasquid, (edited ) do games w Unity makes major changes to controversial install-fee program ...😑
@ultrasquid@sopuli.xyz avatar

I still think its a terrible idea to start a new project in unity, but for developers who are too far into a project to reasonably switch without spending a lot of time or money (like Ultrakill or Silksong), this is good as it means they can finish their games without having to worry about a passive income loss which could put them out of business.

PlushySD, do games w Unity makes major changes to controversial install-fee program ...😑

sound of me spittingI’ll wait until next year to see what’s really gonna happen.

circuitfarmer, do games w Unity makes major changes to controversial install-fee program ...😑
@circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

It doesn’t matter.

They showed their hand. They can and will change pricing after the fact. Who would want that kind of liability on their product?

Spudwart, do games w Unity makes major changes to controversial install-fee program ...😑

This is standard business tactics.

Do not fall for it.

An absurd change followed by rolling it back to an “acceptable” version that is still worse than their original position prior to the initial announcement.

This is a psychological manipulation.

And more to the point it ignores the issue of their violation of trust and consistency.

This is still precedent, they still showed their hand.

They want to have “passive income” at your expense.

Learn Godot.

lorty, do games w Unity makes major changes to controversial install-fee program ...😑
@lorty@lemmy.ml avatar

So this was the actual deal they were going for. We’ll see if the big players will stick with unity.

AmbroisindeMontaigu,

Considering the trust they've lost I don't think they've planned to do it this way. And if they didn't plan it, they assumed that their original plan wasn't going to result in much opposition, so that was the plan they wanted to go with.

Jaysyn, do gaming w Wait, is Unity allowed to just change its fee structure like that?
@Jaysyn@kbin.social avatar

Yes, but if you don't upgrade, you can keep using the old license. Unity tried to delete this from the Internet.

Neato,
@Neato@kbin.social avatar

So if you've published a game, just keep on keeping on. You can sell that game, maintain an older copy of Unity to update it for bugs, even develop new content for that game with the older version of Unity.

I figured this must have been in here. No professional organization would allow a TOS to pass into publishing that allowed a company to unilaterally change fees.

spriteblood,

This is still up on their FAQ:

Yes, the fee applies to eligible games currently in market that continue to distribute the runtime. We look at a game's lifetime installs to determine eligibility for the runtime fee. Then we bill the runtime fee based on all new installs that occur after January 1, 2024.

ripcord,
@ripcord@kbin.social avatar

I love that their "proprietary" method of determining installs is to just look at the # of installs reported publicly by Google and Apple app stores.

Hegar,

So if you've published a game, just keep on keeping on. You can sell that game, maintain an older copy of Unity to update it for bugs, even develop new content for that game with the older version of Unity.

According to the article, probably no.

Many devs may have updated unity and used it for minor updates, but also the clause in question probably doesn't protect anyone anyway. There's a broader ToS that supercedes it with much more restrictive language.

Hegar, (edited )

According to the article, it's not that simple. This is from the ToS for the Unity Editor, which is subservient to a broader Unity ToS that has much stricter legal language about changing anything without warning and the customer being able to go fuck themselves.

So, yes, technically this bullshit may be completely legal. Devs who were sold Unity on "no royalties" may be forced to pay royalties. Which is definitely healthy for our society and not obviously a problem.

fckreddit, do gaming w Report: Unity considering revenue-based fee caps, self-reported install numbers

Devs should stop trusting Unity after this fiasco. Sudden, random and retroactive changes to TOS is never good for business.

Now Unity should go bankrupt. But, that is hoping too much, I guess.

M500,

I agree. I am not a game dev, but I have considered making a game before. I do have programming experience. I just started a Godot tutorial today.

The tutorial focused on how to use the interface for the most part. I will not continue the tutorial I was using as it was video, and I really prefer to read. I’ll see if No Starch Press has a book. I typically like the books they publish.

Update It does not look like they have a Godot book. I will keep looking for one.

misterundercoat, do gaming w Report: Unity considering revenue-based fee caps, self-reported install numbers

This guy’s headshot looks like a character creation screen after hitting randomize

jmcs, do gaming w Report: Unity considering revenue-based fee caps, self-reported install numbers

This still requires games to track all the devices they are installed in and phone home.

Celestus, do gaming w Report: Unity considering revenue-based fee caps, self-reported install numbers

Unity has nothing to do with Epic. Perhaps you’re thinking of Unreal Engine?

M500,

Yes, I totally have had them confused this entire time 🤦‍♂️

MrBobDobalina,

I’d suggest editing that in the main post for those who don’t know and don’t see this comment

Excrubulent, do gaming w Report: Unity considering revenue-based fee caps, self-reported install numbers
@Excrubulent@slrpnk.net avatar

Honestly at this point just the peace of mind of working in a FOSS engine and not under a corporation that can do this whenever is enough to motivate me to learn godot. I’ve got some prototypes I can port into that engine to learn on, it might even be some good motivation to start integrating them into a single project.

wave_walnut, do gaming w Report: Unity considering revenue-based fee caps, self-reported install numbers
@wave_walnut@kbin.social avatar

This price change would be not for gaming industry gains, but for the capitalist's private appetite. Unity engine would be added unneccesary features for it.

Cruxifux, do gaming w Report: Unity considering revenue-based fee caps, self-reported install numbers

Dude every company does this shit. The whole “announce something twice as bad as what you wanna do so you look good when you roll it back” schtick is as old as sliced bread. I do it to my wife all the time.

Sometimes the find out nobody really cares and they get to do the even worse thing. It’s a win win.

ulkesh, do gaming w Report: Unity considering revenue-based fee caps, self-reported install numbers
@ulkesh@beehaw.org avatar

I think we could have done a lot of things a lot better.

No shit, Sherlock. Not fucking over your client-base, for one. One would think he’s not fit to be CEO of cow shit after this douche was previously in charge of EA during some of the worst years of that company.

There are alternatives to Unity. Time to move on if possible.

BluJay320, do gaming w Report: Unity considering revenue-based fee caps, self-reported install numbers
@BluJay320@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

They did too much damage already. They’ve lost all developer trust, and deserve to crash and burn for this

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