new unity decision..

[daistn]

man i hope unity decides to not charge developers per download of a game with unity otherwise we are going to see a lot of games dissappear.

[Mithrandir]

It looks like an awful change. IMO, many will use other game engines in the future if they're the only one doing this.

[Sundaysmiles]

They did say during a previous alpha's dev stream that they hated working with the current system and if they had a time machine and the resources they'd use another engine, well they're going to really wish they did now.

[Hades Dragon]

Per game? Wow unity just wants people to hate them don't they?

[Sundaysmiles]

Originally posted by Hades' Dragon:

Per game? Wow unity just wants people to hate them don't they?

Oh its not just per game. It's per install.

You uninstall the game and then reinstall it later on the same machine? Unity charges the developer. You do it twice because maybe a technical issue and you want to do a clean installation? Unity charges the developer twice for that.

You wanna be a ♥♥♥♥ and run up a bill for the developer and just reinstall all day long? Sure. Go ahead. Nothing stopping you at that point.

The whole thing is inherently flawed.

[Bo0Mz]

this brilliant decision should result in nothing more than the people that came up with it getting fired imediately because what they are actually doing is forcing devs to switch to another engine and delete their games on every game store

even if this decision gets canceled these people should still get fired because alot of dev teams lost trust in unity and are considering switching to another engine as we speak

[Hades Dragon]

Originally posted by Bo0Mz:

this brilliant decision should result in nothing more than the people that came up with it getting fired imediately because what they are actually doing is forcing devs to switch to another engine and delete their games on every game store

even if this decision gets canceled these people should still get fired because alot of dev teams lost trust in unity and are considering switching to another engine as we speak

How is funpimps gonna deal with this though? Doubt they have the time to switch to another engine let alone a crew that's familiar with other game engines.

[Shurenai]

Originally posted by Hades' Dragon:

Originally posted by Bo0Mz:

this brilliant decision should result in nothing more than the people that came up with it getting fired imediately because what they are actually doing is forcing devs to switch to another engine and delete their games on every game store

even if this decision gets canceled these people should still get fired because alot of dev teams lost trust in unity and are considering switching to another engine as we speak

How is funpimps gonna deal with this though? Doubt they have the time to switch to another engine let alone a crew that's familiar with other game engines.

Unfortunately, For a lot of companies, TFP included, just biting the bullet is probably the only thing they can do in the short term. It's not just a day or two task to transfer a game to a completely different engine.. We'll have to see if TFP comments on it or not.

[Blue Hasia]

but can they change the contract so drastically with a company already with an agreement?

[Shurenai]

Originally posted by Blue Hasia:

but can they change the contract so drastically with a company already with an agreement?

That is an excellent question- Unfortunately without access to whatever contract(s) are involved we can't know. What we do know is Unity is trying it, and that, so far, there hasn't been any word of any company attempting or planning to contest the act in court, so.. I would presume based on this that the contract in question probably has provisions to account for changes like this in a "Either you accept our changes or this contract will be terminated" kind of way.

In either case, Just attempting this move will certainly be spreading a LOT of bad blood and burning lots of bridges for Unity whether it goes through or gets pulled back.

[jacobvandy]

Originally posted by Sundaysmiles:

Originally posted by Hades' Dragon:

Per game? Wow unity just wants people to hate them don't they?

Oh its not just per game. It's per install.

You uninstall the game and then reinstall it later on the same machine? Unity charges the developer. You do it twice because maybe a technical issue and you want to do a clean installation? Unity charges the developer twice for that.

You wanna be a ♥♥♥♥ and run up a bill for the developer and just reinstall all day long? Sure. Go ahead. Nothing stopping you at that point.

The whole thing is inherently flawed.

They've already walked that back in response to everyone pointing out this glaring opportunity for abuse. Not that it completely eliminates any possibility of it, since they still wanna charge for the first install on each different machine (however that is defined).

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

[Loco]

https://blog.unity.com/news/plan-pricing-and-packaging-updates

Not sure if the change is only for new games after the change or includes existing ones, either way looks like a bad idea in the making.

[jacobvandy]

Originally posted by Loco:

https://blog.unity.com/news/plan-pricing-and-packaging-updates

Not sure if the change is only for new games after the change or includes existing ones, either way looks like a bad idea in the making.

Yes, their FAQ confirms it is meant to apply to all games, including previously released ones. That's a major source of the negative response they're getting. They won't charge for installations previous to January 1, but the game's lifetime install count and total revenue is used for the purpose of determining where it fits on their fee schedule for installations after that point.

[Shurenai]

Originally posted by Loco:

https://blog.unity.com/news/plan-pricing-and-packaging-updates

Not sure if the change is only for new games after the change or includes existing ones, either way looks like a bad idea in the making.

https://unity.com/pricing-updates

Originally posted by The above link:

Q: Will this fee apply to games using Unity Runtime that are already on the market on January 1, 2024?
A: 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. For more details on when the fee may apply to your game, see When does the Unity Runtime Fee take effect?

So yes, Charging existing ones. And new ones. And everyone they think they can charge really.

[Liquidlazor]

I'm more concerned over the regulation of mining platforms on third party software engines anyways in this matter.... as long as it doesn't drastically influence end-user prices or makes it unfeasable for makers as well.... Seems certain ideas come too late, but of course studios will have to pick engines based in difficulty and cost, something that can be monopolized. This move looks to be a once in a generation move with the hopes of pushing an 'industry-standard' narrative. Best of luck to everyone involved I guess. Disheartening talks for end-users who just want to have a good pc and a good game..... We'll all just trying to make it out here. The pricing model for engines seemed reasonable in general as it was before, not punishing small devs as much. But many studios go on to make troves of popular games who benefit... But dont take 50% from people's one successful game. Its not close to that in agreement. How will Unity keep up with advancing developments of technology application?

[Hades Dragon]

How can they get away with changing policy if they already paid for the service of using unity? Can't a lawyer challenge that? At least for existing clients, makes sense if the new clients have to follow that policy though.