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Unity will start charging developers for each game install

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I can't even keep up with the news. Death threats, reports they are going to "force" Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft to foot the bill for console games that use Unity, rumors of legal action against developers who drop Unity/delist their games before Jan 1st, etc.

News articles are popping up faster than I can read them it seems.
 
Stg-Flame said:
I can't even keep up with the news. Death threats, reports they are going to "force" Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft to foot the bill for console games that use Unity, rumors of legal action against developers who drop Unity/delist their games before Jan 1st, etc.

News articles are popping up faster than I can read them it seems.
Click to expand...

Post some links man
 
Fanatical Meat said:
Post some links man
Click to expand...
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twistedvoxel.com

Unity Claims PlayStation, Xbox & Nintendo Will Pay Its New Runtime Fee On Behalf Of Devs

Unity Technologies has stated that PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo will pay the company's new runtime fee on behalf of game developers.
twistedvoxel.com twistedvoxel.com
They cite this as their source: https://unity.com/pricing-updates

The rumors of legal action against developers have just been floating around Reddit and the Steam discussions at the moment. Not sure where they started and I can't find any sources to confirm that information but it's weird I've seen the same thing in multiple places today.
 
Fanatical Meat said:
Just throwing an idea out. Maybe this nudge will inspire game developers to actually make their own game engines like they used to and possibly make games feel different from each other again
Click to expand...

-If Unity goes down in flames and Unreal is the only other major plug and play engine game in town then we'll go through a long stretch of extremely homogenous visuals (not that there are many choices at the moment... Bethsoft can license the Creation engine 😛) until Epic feels like pulling a similar stunt.
 

Megan Fox (@glassbottommeg@peoplemaking.games)

Oh gooood, this whole #Unity3D blowout? It literally happened because of that shitty Iron Source buy-out that everyone was pissed about. The call to add this fee literally came from the Iron Source side of the business, and it only exists to "kill AppLovin" (a rival ad provider that is better)...
peoplemaking.games peoplemaking.games
1694777493307.png
is this something? Unity is "offering" to waive fees to cartel customers into their ad ecosystem....
 
KMFJD said:

Megan Fox (@glassbottommeg@peoplemaking.games)

Oh gooood, this whole #Unity3D blowout? It literally happened because of that shitty Iron Source buy-out that everyone was pissed about. The call to add this fee literally came from the Iron Source side of the business, and it only exists to "kill AppLovin" (a rival ad provider that is better)...
peoplemaking.games peoplemaking.games
View attachment 85838
is this something? Unity is "offering" to waive fees to cartel customers into their ad ecosystem....
Click to expand...
Sort of makes sense, raise fees on old cheap engine and waive fees on newer engine that can support ads/ad platform for unity. That’s the recurring revenue stream they are so blatantly chasing.
 
Fanatical Meat said:
Per an article I read unity has had tracking tools in it for various performance reasons for a long time. Those DRM free games probably aren’t as DRM free as you think.
Click to expand...
Doesn't matter with the GOG version. Download the GOG offline installer, disconnect the internet, then install the game. And at every game launch make sure the internet is disabled. Unity has no way to track any of that.

If Unity tries to force startup DRM patches, the games will get delisted from GOG, but existing owners will keep their DRM-free copies. Again, nothing Unity can do about that. Another powerful example of the the difference between game ownership and a "service".

I'd also expect delisting in other places when they get close to the install limit so their developers don't have to pay. As far as game preservation goes, this is an absolute disaster in the making.

None of this would've happened if in 2004 customers told Valve to suck a lemon when they forced the septic excrement that is Steam into HL2. But no, instead the people preferred trading cards, achievements and "convenience" instead of their rights, so here we are.
 
BFG10K said:
Doesn't matter with the GOG version. Download the GOG offline installer, disconnect the internet, then install the game. And at every game launch make sure the internet is disabled. Unity has no way to track any of that.

If Unity tries to force startup DRM patches, the games will get delisted from GOG, but existing owners will keep their DRM-free copies. Again, nothing Unity can do about that. Another powerful example of the the difference between game ownership and a "service".

I'd also expect delisting in other places when they get close to the install limit so their developers don't have to pay. As far as game preservation goes, this is an absolute disaster in the making.

None of this would've happened if in 2004 customers told Valve to suck a lemon when they forced the septic excrement that is Steam into HL2. But no, instead the people preferred trading cards, achievements and "convenience" instead of their rights, so here we are.
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Is the data stored in your PC somewhere, Will it try to dial home more than once? Will you ever connect the machine to the internet?
I’m all about as little tracking & DRM as feasible. I am not going thru extreme measures to play a damn game.
 
Fanatical Meat said:
Is the data stored in your PC somewhere, Will it try to dial home more than once?
Click to expand...
Without the game running you mean? Not possible to dial home. You need a service or rootkit running in the background which GOG would never allow.

The internet just needs to be down while the game is being installed/run. Or even simpler, just block all its traffic through a firewall.
 
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A lot of greedy stuff EA has done in the past can be traced back to John Riccitiello. He was famous for monetizing everything. Made microtransactions common in every aspect of gaming.

He said that devs who don't focus on microtransaction are some of the biggest f**king idiots.

Baldur's Gate 3 is doing very well despite none of that nonsense.

He's not doing anything out of character.
 
Didn't this ceo used to work for electronic arts? This is a perfect time for Epic to take in developers seeking shelter. What a dumb move.
 
Saw an article where developers started removing the ad monetization from their games so Unity makes no money off them. Lots of developers stopped development to shift to a new engine too. Think I read that cult of the lamb is going to cease to exist after Jan as well.
 
A/// said:
Didn't this ceo used to work for electronic arts? This is a perfect time for Epic to take in developers seeking shelter. What a dumb move.
Click to expand...
Yes and he was the one who pitched the idea of charging players in multiplayer FPS games for more ammo when they run out. That same guy who got forced to resign is pretty much single handedly killing Unity now.
 
cmdrdredd said:
Yes and he was the one who pitched the idea of charging players in multiplayer FPS games for more ammo when they run out. That same guy who got forced to resign is pretty much single handedly killing Unity now.
Click to expand...

-I don't get the CEO merry-go-round. Like you can completely ruin a company and effectively get fired and then grab another big money job being CEO somewhere else right away.

Hell I can ruin one of these companies for a fraction of what they're paying these guys and still be rich.
 
Unity is a dead engine and company walking at this point.

Doesn't matter if they revert everything.

Doesn't matter if they promise to harden the TOS against retroactive changes (again).

They're too much of a liability to do business with. You don't get into bed with backstabbing liars who also happen to be retarded.

The only possibly way that Unity can prevent the mass exodus of developers at this point, including myself, is to wholesale replace the leadership team, and even then it will be a long road to to win back our trust back.
 
BFG10K said:
So it turns out the death threat came from a Unity employee.
Click to expand...

Ostensible death threat. Besides the convenience factor, we have no idea what was actually posted on social media, the police statement was unenthusiastic, and Unity leadership isn't trustworthy.

Doesn't mean that true threats weren't issued, just that I'm taking everything with a grain of salt at this point. The idea of an employee making death threats seems inherently less likely than, say, a 16-year old hobbyist.
 
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