Oh yeah. Thats a bit fucked
#Unity introduces flat fees (per installation) for games
gaunt flicker
Even free games get the fee
The worst part is its not even a fee for when people buy the game its per install
Apparently reinstalls count as it install, and if the game is compiled to a web browser version viewing it in the web browser counts as an install
Also streaming services per user account as an install
random kite
For certain reasons Unity announcement url was deleted, here it is:
https://blog.unity.com/news/plan-pricing-and-packaging-updates
A thread from Twitter with some explanation (and damage control/maneuvers), not sure about credibility: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1701877435715686567.html
tribal moon
Here, they have an official forum post for clarifying things. Unfortunately, it only makes the situation worse. Also, you should read the first comment under the initial post.
https://forum.unity.com/threads/unity-plan-pricing-and-packaging-updates.1482750/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=company_global_blog_2023-09-13_updated-forums-faq
white galleon
No way this will actually happen. they will backpedal real soon
random kite
Niiiice comment. Reminds me of the recent HashiCorp Terraform backslash after hey tried to make it published under a different license (not OS, more legal pits + fees - in certain ways same thing happening rn with Unity) so ppl just took latest still open-source release and now they have beta in public already. For details go through https://opentf.org/announcement
As for the Unity case however, code is closed, with a few exceptions (you have to be enterprise customer and request access to read-only repo). So, seems that in our case switching to the other engine is a way.
BTW - is there other options aside Godot and UE?
tribal moon
Godot, UE5, Hazel (in development), GameMaker, RPG Maker, and Bevy (also still in-dev) are the ones I know of. I know there's many more, but I don't know anything about them.
gleaming prism
Out of all of the above, Godot and UE are by far the best for VR.
eager loom
UE isnt great for Mobile let alone VR mobile, so i wouldnt recommend UE for a Quest title. Though Its not bad for PCVR, not as good as unity unfortunately (Unity has far more features and resources).
And godot cant export to Quest to my knowledge, I think theres a addon that tries todo it but theres no official quest support for godot.
Unity really dominated the VR space, its really unfortunate to see this happen.
gleaming prism
UE isnt great for Mobile let alone VR mobile, so i wouldnt recommend UE for a Qu...
A handful of Godot-based games are already on App Lab.
eager loom
Thats not officially supported though? Isnt it through an external plugin?
gleaming prism
Nope, it’s official.
Meta wouldn’t have provided Godot Engine staff with Quests if there wasn’t active interest in supporting it.
Also, there’s a decent chunk of UE-based VR games that are on Quest.
tribal moon
UE is definitely possible, just takes some work. There's a bunch of third party plugins for UE that add some missing performance features for low-end or mobile devices.
Ultimately, yeah, this really sucks for VR development. Unity was by far the best developed for VR. I hope the others catch up soon. I heard UE is getting some money put into their VR support.
random kite
Aaaaand looks like Unity started to see resignations within their ranks from those who didn't agreed with incoming changes and tried to oppose them.
https://twitter.com/jonoforbes/status/1702075391958204502?s=20&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Twitter
random kite
gleaming prism
insider trading? yup!
and i also expect lawsuits from multiple massive companies to come rushing in
gaunt flicker
Probably in a few ways bit overall it will likely run the same as usual. I dont think they'll swap game engine's sadly since that would likely remove all avatars and worlds in the process unless they miraculously find a way to auto port all avis and world's.
Otherwise they'll be taking a big monetary hit that will likely require them to need more money to get by.
Unless Unitys new system is so broken that every single reinstall of the game charges vrchat 20 cents. In which case someone with a simple uninstall, reinstall script could destroy the entire game in just a week.
fallen flint
Fair
fallen flint
And moar!
https://www.eurogamer.net/unity-bosses-sold-stock-days-before-developm...
Feels relevant:
https://www.reddit.com/r/unity/comments/16j23ci/i_know_people_dont_want_to_hear_this_you_shouldnt/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
random kite
Oh my, who could saw it coming...
https://twitter.com/unity/status/1703547752205218265
Twitter
random kite
[Rumors] Unity will try to keep the new model, but remove the most painful and controversial points:
- Limiting fees to 4% of a game’s revenue for customers making over $1 million
- Installations counted toward reaching the threshold won’t be retroactive (no payment for all installs prior to 1 Jan 2024)
- Installations are expected to be self-reported by publisher\dev\whoever-is-in-charge instead of being tracked by unity proprietary solution
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/unity-overhauls-controversial-price-hike-after-game-developers-revolt-1.1973000
gleaming prism
this is exactly what I thought was going to happen
i would not be surprised if they decide to go with these results to undercut Unreal Engine, but the damage has already been done.
a great big chunk of it simply can’t be repaired because unity has broken trust with thousands of developers by attempting such a rugpull.
random kite
New update: as I suspected before, they want now to go with partially implementing new fees but without retroactive action while stating that they made a lot of mistakes with communication of this new pricing terms.
Interview with Unity Create President and General Manager Marc Whitten:
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023/09/unity-exec-tells-ars-hes-on-a-mission-to-earn-back-developer-trust/
gleaming prism
fucking called it lmao
eager loom
Nope, it’s official.
Looked at godot as an option, its c# support cant export to Mobile, so c# cant run on Quest.
Which is a pretty big killer for a lot of unity developers unfortunately.
gleaming prism
Looked at godot as an option, its c# support cant export to Mobile, so c# cant r...
They’re already working on fixing that.
Was a feature 3.6 supported, now it’s being worked on for 4.2. The move to .NET 6 introduced a lot of backend hiccups.
eager loom
Yeah ok, hopefully their able todo it quickly.
random kite
gleaming prism
he’s not out quite yet, but he’s on his way.