Buy Unity3d pro For $99

What that means is that making a free license was a good idea, it doesn't remotely follow that they should lower the price of Pro. In fact logically they should probably increase the price at this point (but don't tell them I said so ). Also, you're forgetting a big factor in Unity's popularity, which is iPhone publishing (and now Android publishing)...and keep in mind that there's no free at all in that case, it's a minimum of $400.

--Eric

 

@Eric5h5 You're a Super Moderator. Can you just lock this thread?

 

The free version of unity is awesome, why do you keep saying the engine is out of reach? it can do pretty much everything pro can.

Yes but he has his own brain and is more than qualified to judge if he feels a thread should be locked, he doesn't need you to tell him that, just because you want it locked.

 

I could, but I think that would be exceeding my authority (mostly I just kill the occasional spam post). Also, people are keeping the conversation reasonably civil, so I don't see a reason for locking it. Feel free to ignore this topic if you aren't finding it interesting.

--Eric

 

Profit is sometimes superseded by greed. Imagine if Autodesk were to offer 3DS Max, Maya, etc, for $500 or less each for a 3 month sale period. They would hurt their competition very badly simply due to the fact that many see those toolsets as coveted professional top of the line software (like a Ferrari or Lamborghini).

And there is always the example of Pixologic and ZBrush. Pay once, free upgrades for life. ZBrush is as much as an niche software as Unity. So if Pixologic can survive on that business model Unity can as well.

 

I understand that. The thing is, this thread has turned to an off topic, personal, repetitive argument that keeps giving those of us who aren't arguing unread posts.

 

I enjoy the banter and insight

 

Hmm, beside of making great rock solid engines, did id Software/Apogee/3DRealms produce any other great game beside of Doom III and Rage? I remember that Quake 2 was kind of fun because it was the first time i used a 3dfx card but apart from that... wait, they published Max Payne as well. I forgot Prey. Sadly i never could get something out of all the Duke Nuke Em and Wolfenstein games. Anyway the John Carmack side of id Software is great, the Tim Willits side lately sucks.

 

ID's last hit was quake 3 ( tho there where some other quakes after, none of which where mega hits ), Apogee 3DRealms was duke3d ( or max payne, maybe prey ? if that counts ). Then ID turned into an engine only company really, and 3d realms started a 12 year quest on duke forever.

BTW: hippo slightly mis-stated, I never worked for either company. I had publishing deals with them and played paintball with them

 

simple solution: don't read this thread

 

This thread is like crack!

 

lol, ooh yeah thread junkies *inhales again* hehehe

 

A few things, although this thread has ballooned since I could last spend any time with it.

1) By "ill will" I'm merely speaking of the general perception of consumers. Example: Someone buys a new computer for $3000 thinking that paying that high price will cause it to "last them" for quite a while and that the price means it is "high quality". A few years down the road they realize that the money they paid wasn't as efficient as buying three $500 computers, one each year, and the reliability/future proofing they thought they were paying for hasn't panned out. It seems maybe a silly example to some, but this is how a LOT of people buy things, mainly due to a bit of technological ignorance, a need to have what is considered cutting edge, even it is beyond their reasonable means to purchase. Even if their perception is flawed, and blaming the company they purchased it from is irrational, they are still customers and part of the market that is available. This irrational "ill will" drastically decreases in occurrence as the pricing approaches zero/throw away cost for a particular persons budget.

In other words.
I think a lot of new people get interested in game making, thinking "the software makes the game" (literally and figuratively), and are compelled to purchase because they think they need all the software has to offer, to make their grand vision a reality. When they realize that isn't the case, the $1500 purchase (or $4500 purchase) is a lot harder egg to swallow, and a lot less likely to keep the person upgrading. People are more likely to buy in at a lower price, less likely to feel bad about it later, and more likely to continue to upgrade if their general perception of the product continues to be good, even if they're working past their own ignorance in the process. This perception is further compounded by the amount of success they achieve with the purchase they made. People who end up with a profitable game and/or a good consulting business from the purchase will feel it's money well spent, those that don't (most people unfortunately), may not feel as good.

Call it "not Unity's problem", maybe true, but that market is there whether we like it or not.
Here's a question.
How many people bought Torque for the first time, or additional licenses, when the price went to $99, even though you don't use the engine, just because it was cheap and figured it wouldn't hurt to own a copy "just in case"? Do you feel bad you purchased the license, even though you don't use it? Would you feel the same if you spent $1500? What is your threshold for money you consider to be "throw away"?


2) There's sadly too common perception that, if you can't afford something, or don't feel comfortable spending that money, and yet someone else feels it is a small fee, then you are to blame for that. I'm specifically referencing the "well if you can't make enough money to pay for Unity Pro, or a car for more than $1500, you must work at McDonald's". While I can theoretically afford to do both, and make well more than the average in my state/the US as a whole, I can also see that this is a nonsensical, and quite frankly, an insulting argument to not just a few people, but the MAJORITY of people.
I'll say it one last time, MOST people cannot afford to throw around $1500, let alone $4500 + upgrade fees.
More importantly, this is precisely what allows some people to be more successful (be paid more) than others.
People who make high five figure, or six figure, or millionaires, or billionaires "can" make that money, not just because "one other person works at McDonald's, and is generally not very bright", but because MILLIONS of average to above average people make an average salary, or slightly above avergage salary, at jobs varying in required knowledge from basic filing/organization skills, all the way through quantum mechanics.
Given that resources (land, food, oil, gold, credit) are all finite, this is just the nature of the beast.
Saying that the two possibilities are "professional who makes more than enough to scoff at $1500, or, McDonald's worker" is ignorant, at best.

3) I think people overestimate the amount of "data and calculations" that Unity, or any company, has available to set pricing appropriately and estimate future sales, particularly in a market where pricing varies from $99 to several million dollars.
In fact, it's much more of a guessing game and/or a projected likelihood than it is a certainty.
Sometimes this works out in the companies favor (much of the initial growth they've had is probably a welcome surprise), but this of course can fall the other direction in the future, particularly when competition is working on the catching up and/or, deciding on their own pricing model.
If anything, Unity should be encouraging these types of discussions, simply because the questions asked "could" yield some additional, if not better, data points for business planning.

Of course the problem with this particular poll/thread is, it isn't asking the right question or asking it in the proper way, and thus has spurned mostly idle/semi-informed speculation and heated debate, rather than genuine input from the user base.

 

And if you drink some beer it's even more fun. ;O)

 

Thats based entirely on the assumption free users will never upgrade to pro. Everything fails right there and falls apart.

 

Hippo relapsed !!! MEDIC !!

Yeah, beer gives me ideas about "splittin de profits"

 

Splittin de profits??//

 

a few mmo posts I replied to after having a few drinks or working too long. the ones that always say "I have no money but want to split the profits to make an mmo"

 

I would be in heaven if someone came on, looking for an artist wanting to make bloody Peggle or Pong or friggin space invaders, and if they had an iOS. id quite happily be the non OP on the indie market, but for some reason everyone is tied up in FPS games and MMO's.

haha

 

Thats the odd thing, with ios appstore you can almost make anything and sell it, be really creative not just make what has been made 1000 times before. not to mention an RPG and MMO is way too much for 99.999% of indies ( but one day one of these kids will grow up and unseat WoW, but who )

 

I actually have never played WoW (not a big fan of these games, like runescape and WoW, simply because of the graphics), but i do have a MMO and a MRPG on my list... though the MMO is on hold, but i have to do it because i got myself to far into it... random thoughts from a 15 year old...

 

agreed. And yes i am a pro user.

 

I mean, I want to do something of that simplicity.

 

What they should do is offer a stripped down version of Pro for $99... Oh wait, they already do that for free.

Here's a thought: if you cannot afford pro but want the features of pro, team up with someone who has pro. Where there is a will, there is a way. I made my first game long before I owned my first computer.

Tell you what I have pro and will gladly add dynamic shadows to your otherwise finished unity game.

 

Has there been any discussion on monthly payments ($150-$200) till payed back / 120%? A bit of both worlds, users could still buy the full package (regular) or subscription model.

As a hobbyist out of highschool with no plans on making profit off the game I'm making, spending a total of 1500 on mostly graphics is too much, I'm learning ways to get around lack of deferred and shadows easily.

edit: Drew, careful with that. That's against the rules - all members of the team need pro or indie, no mixing last I knew.

 

Yes, you can do that now. It's called "a credit card".

--Eric

 

I thought that was against the licensing agreement? (Where if one team member used Pro, the rest had to and there couldnt be intermixing between the two licenses on the same project/team).

 

Guess I should read the EULA closer.

 

I just got iOS yesterday. Too bad I don't need an artist (that's MY specialty).

 

I think this makes the difference between a moderator and a good moderator. I applaud you, Sir.

 

i 'member, was just being sarcastic.

 

Did i say engine? I meant the Pro. Because the Pro IS out of reach for hobbyists. Hobbyists will buy Torque or something similar, or migrate to UDK when they need important things like realtime shadow or any other important stuff that is just available in the Pro. Because the Pro is too expensive for most hobbyists. Torque even has a iOS runtime nowadays. Which is also much cheaper than the Unity version.

Unitys current goal with the Free version is to attract the Indies and Professionals, so that they will buy the Pro then. That`s where the money comes from. The Hobbyists gets ignored in the marketing strategy. It`s more a side effect that so much hobbyists uses the Free version now, because it is free. Unity doesn`t really deal with that though.

Not every free user is a hobbyist. Lots of Indies will start with the Basic, finish their first games, and buy the Pro then as the next step. And not every hobbyist uses just the free version. Some of them are rich enough to even pay the current 1500 dollars. But most hobbyists cannot afford the Pro.

Freedom of speech is essential at a customer forum. Just having another opinion was never a reason for a thread lock here. And i hope it never will. But what about banning posters that does nothing else than distrurbing the discussion, flaming the opponents, and ask for thread locks all the time? That would be a valid reason for a ban. It`s at least a valid reason for a warning at most other forums i know

 

But it`s the next logical step to lower the price, not to raise it again. The free version has blown away most of the other professionally oriented companies when it comes to attract Indies and Professionals. A for hobbyists affordable Pro version would blow away most of the indie and hobbyists engines like 3D Gamestudio in the same way.

 

Give it up tiles. You're just repeating yourself in the hope someone will agree with you. Your complete refusal to accept that the hobby market ranges from cheap (bird watching and train spotting) to expensive beyond belief (collecting old comics or items) is why you cannot accept that unity pro actually has a price point that is beyond you personally.

Lets take a look at unity pro console licenses. You are looking at 80k+ PER TITLE. I think thats good value for what you get.

I think it should be a big wake up call to you that $1500 is rock bottom. It is cheaper than crytek and epic by a large margin for sellers. But hobbyists will thrive on crytek and epic. I suggest you go there.

 

Actually the title of the poll is pretty stupid (no offence).
Would you buy Unity (I assume the Pro version) if it costed only $99?

Of course people would buy it, $1500 is 15 times $99. It is like asking me would you buy a $150,000 house for $10.000 ? Why not. But the price does not change what you can do with it. If you cannot make a game with the free version than you would be wasting $99.

Even people that would be worried about the longevity/support of a product sold cheap, as long as the current version is stable and can be used to make commercial games they would buy it to use it now, then if the product dies they would move to a different tool

The question should be reworded if one wanted to make a point. So far only about 50 ppl said yes which would make it a commercial suicide. The price of a product is based on what the target audience is prepared to pay for it. Maybe a more interesting question would be
Would you buy the Free Version for $99?


Most times when you pay for something you feel compelled to make good use of it a finish a game with it.

Also in some cases for a business it is better to sell 100 items at £1000 then 1000 items at £100. Make more money per transition, can offer better/faster customer support to 100 then you can to 1000. 1000 usersncan be more expensive to maintain and 100 people (new customers per month) that paid £1000 are more likely to buy other big ticket items like upgrades/add-ons/services because they have already shown a substantial financial commitment. Instead the 1000 people that paid £0 or £99 may drop out and not use the product and may never buy add-on services/products etc... Because they were only interested in a cheap tool/fix/dream

 

Why should i? You repeat the same things again and again too, without really convincing me. Because your arguments are too weak for me. What has for example the console license to do with the Pro license for PC? This is rock expensive, not rock bottom.

I have already accepted that it is beyond my price point. This doesn`t stop me from telling and thinking that it is too high though.

 

I think the point he is trying to make is that it's your opinion that is out of the ordinary, not the price.

 

@Tiles

When did you realize this?
Where you got this info from?
Why you think one thing could lead to the other?
How can you assure this is what happened?

 

My opinion? I don't have one, I'm just telling you how it is. Hobbies cost money. How is that out of the ordinary? It is ok for a hobby to cost money. You have a passion, it could be anything. It could be collecting stones from different beaches across the world. That would cost a lot more than unity pro.

 

Tiles, I'm afraid hippo is right - hobbies do just cost money. I recently added a new hobby to my ever growing list of hobbies - photography. Now I could have gone out and spent $50 on a cheap point and click camera, but i didn't... i spent $900 on a nice SLR because i wanted a few more feature. I am still browsing through photography magazine salivating over the $4000 camera... but they are out of my league. That said, I still want one. Me asking Nikon et al to lower there prices until it falls into my price bracket is ridiculous.

 

i was referring to him.

 

unity pro is 1500 for a reason, actually 5000 add everything. think about it, say if you and your team of developers make an awesome game. Xbox and Sony now want your game. now your making huge sales and make millions. now 1500 is a small price to pay to be given a tool that could make back that money 10000 fold. best part is, that if we do release, we can choose a number of ways to release it, not just Union. I've bought pro for the 1500 + the android pro, now if people started buying it at $99 , im going to feel very cheated and ripped off. wouldn't you?. the only thing that i think should be done is that your licences stays with you even if you update version e.g 2.58 to 3.4 will not cost another 1500 as long you have the pro licence to start with.

 

From looking at the facts that are public available, and having an open ear at more than one community forum.
From the number of current users growing here, and the number of users decreasing elsewhere.
When i see a stone falling down then there is most probably a power behind that pulls it down.
It`s called causality

No need to tell me that hobby costs money all the time. I agree with that point, and i never said i want the Pro for free. I don`t even think that 99 dollar would feed Unity enough to survive. Price increased from 1200 to 1500 when Unity introduced the Beast engine. So this license costs most probably 300 bucks per Pro license. That`s why i introduced the imaginary price of 500 before. Let it be 600. It`s not a fixed value, it`s the magical barrer that counts. The point where hobbyists are willing to spend the bucks or better look for something else.

Fact is with 1500 Unity earns nothing at me, while with 500 Unity would earn 500 at me.

 

I too wonder about the reason why those 55 users who voted "No" did so. I mean, I don't go to the grocery store or the butcher and pay him double for my steak just because I think it tastes so good that he deserves so. Only paying $99 for Unity Pro wouldn't be fair towards the developers of course, but once again - that wasn't the question.

As for the pricey hobby discussion... I shared some thoughts on the DAWs I purchased to pursue my hobby and compared their price tag to that of Unity Pro, but that went unnoticed or was ignored.

 

@ c-Row: Your steak logic is on the right track the magnitudes need to be adjusted.

If you were to apply it correctly, you should ask yourself: If the price for super delicious steak was $6.99/lb at your favorite grocery store, would you want the price to be changed to 30 cents/lb all of a sudden?

Doesn't it make you wonder about the upcoming quality of steaks at your favorite grocery store?

Of course, if life was this simple it would be great, but everything has consequences, especially how much you pay for things. That's why 55 users voted "No"!

 

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction

 

Except that the delicious Unity beef they currently sell always tastes the same since their cooling house is full of already prepared slices.

As for the quality of upcoming "steaks"... like I already said, $99 isn't a realistic price tag. But I also said that professional DAWs charge you around $499 and their companies seem to do fine. UT decided that Unity Pro is worth $1,500 (plus it's probably a matter of licensing costs for the individual components as mentioned above) and I will get myself a Pro version once I feel I really need it to add an additional layer of greatness to my game, but at $499 I would be more likely to.

 

I'm done trying to see sense with what you post, Tiles. If what you say is true you shouldn't be using unity yourself. Yet here you are, using unity.

 

Unity Free has everything a hobbyist needs.
Nobody can tell me that one of the pro features is REALLY necessary to develop an amazing game.

But 1000 less from me.

 

Exactly. I don't always play games, but when I do, I
play because of entertainment value.