I am done with Unity

I love this engine. I've invested 5 years learning it and it was a blast. Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond my control I can no longer use it. I can no longer use it because I feel doing so violates my integrity. I will have no part in giving user data to an adware company. I just can't do it. This beautiful tool which could be used to create so much is now tainted. Such a shame. From the start I knew investing so much into one company was a mistake, but I trusted Unity. All that time learning the engine down the drain.

I will never buy or support any products created with Unity and I will be vocal about not supporting such products. There are many more like me.

Thanks for nothing.

 

Everyone is coming to a conclusion before anything has truly happened. Unity has bought a lot of companies and to date they have yet to do anything with them in any meaningful way. I wish you luck though. Hopefully you'll find an engine that meets all of your needs.

 

I would argue a lot has happened already, this is just the tipping point.

With that said, don't sabotage yourself @numbers1234 , If you have half finished projects in Unity that you wanted to finish, finish them, that's fine and you can look at your options after that.

If you are starting new things though, it wouldn't be the worst idea to start them in a different engine.

 

If you can find one that meets all of your needs. Unfortunately I suspect it's very much the case that some people are going to have to learn more than just one engine if they leave Unity.

 

I think that's fine, for now.

 

I'm completely fine with it but I could very easily see this being a dealbreaker for many since it likewise would mean learning multiple programming languages and at least one of those has a very high likelyhood of being C++.

 

Learnings new things is fun? C++ is not that bad? C# is not that great? Staying with Unity means you will eventually need to learn DOTS stuff, which is almost like learning a new language?

I'm also against stopping projects mid way and moving to something else, but if you are starting something new, I mean you ought to at least properly check out the competition first, right?

 

Just thinking of all the artists and other non-programmers that are upset over this and thinking of jumping ship.

I'm getting the impression that a lot of the people jumping ship right now haven't actually done that.

 

I mean, they can come back...?

(Again I'm not advocating jumping ship if you have a ton of obligations and projects you need to finish, don't F*** up your careers just because Riccitiello is a giant asshole, they barely make any money from Unity Engine users anyway. But, checking out the competition, learning it, picking up new skills and becoming less reliant on Unity in a controlled manner, is strictly a boon, I think)

 

Was browsing the forum, and saw your message. From the artist's perspective I must say that Unity is the most documented and well taught (I mean the amount and quality of tutorial materials) engine out there. And C# seems way more learnable for me, as a 30+ years old guy with artistic, but not tech background. C++ is super powerful tool but it requires university degree, really. Visual scripting is just "easier" for the first look, until you try it for real.

I may be wrong though, just sharing my experience and impressions after spending several months in different engines by making some scripting, not the visual stuff. If I want to make a game I'll surely go for Unity. If I want to make a visual experience I'll go for Unreal or Unigine.

 

Well, first and foremost, I always suggest people to really research everything about the tool that you plan to invest in, including the technical, leadership, and community aspects. So, even if you move away form Unity, you may as well end up in the same situation in other communities. I honestly think that what happens now on Unity forums is an uncontrollable mass hysteria, and because of that, you may feel forced to make a decision to not use Unity. But this may be a fallacy. Of course, it's totally up to you to decide! I suggest to wait a bit and see how this goes.

 

Nah, it’s just people have been biting their tongues (some to lesser degrees, hi!) and being patient for half a decade, and this was a good opportunity to stop doing that.

 

Always fun when the new guy knows everything.

 

It's not just Unity forums. This is all over the internet, everywhere people talk about videogames. It's possible some good will come of it too, if Unity gets the message that we will never accept any bundled adware.

 

Why exactly do people think Unity is going to bundle adware with engine installation or games themselves? Lmao, you are all overreacting

 

It's weird that people are coming to tell us we're overreacting in a thread where we tell people to *not* abandon Unity.

 

You are. Anyone can learn c++ on their own time, in their own home, for free at that.

 

I m not sure if its not already too late for the latter...
the thing with iron source sounded like a done deal, doubt that even if Unity wanted to respond to the backlash and back out, they probably can not just do that anymore

somewhat agree, whatever they add for monetization and analysis is probably just gonna be a package in the package manager, with devs being able to use or not to use, depending on their needs
(as in just providing additonal tools)
I doubt that spyware or adware will be forced into anything^^

I dont think offering a monetization or ad-framework is in any way problematic...
I do however see a problem with associating the Unity engine with such an infamous company... kinda drags Unity and everyone who uses it in the mud...
I mean even if devs dont include it into their game, the end user wont know if something of ironsource is in an unity application or not...

kinda just puts all unity-made applications in a needlessly sketchy light

 

But there is a bright side to this situation.
Knowing unity past I see a dark clouds over IronSource after unity takes over.

 

Well, it's an old red flag too. It's like they don't know what to do and just buy any shiny technology they spot, only to forget about it on the next day.

 

Yea, after more than 20+ random acquisitions, most of which don't relate to game development directly, it's hard to see what the vision here is beyond metaverse buzzwords and some vague sense that Unity will somehow power it whatever it is.

 

this may sound incredibly stupid, but these words kinda put me at ease
after first hearing the ironsource and layoff news I was uncertain and afraid about the future and unities leadership...

But hearing that those actions are rather on a random whim and leading nowhere, then being a part of a larger plan,
it somehow gives me comfort^^

 

Eh, I think it's less comforting when you realise the randomness and lack of plans applies to engine decisions as well.

 

It's basically just run like a cowboy town. If it wasn't, none of this would've happened. No-one was sabotaged. No-one did bad things. No accidents happened.

All of these are decisions or lack of them.

 

Because EA under Riccitiello did exactly that with the software called SecuROM, which eventually got EA a class action lawsuit and they lost

 

In what way is that "adware"? SecuROM is DRM. There's mass hysteria around that as well, but lets not pretend it's the same thing.

 

Ironsource aside, Unity going into services and branching to make profit is not a problem. Problem is that the engine gets the shorter end of stick, the recen layoffs proves that considering which ppl were let go.

I think if Unity Editor was in better place (good LTSes, DOTS already released and so on) ppl would NOT be salty over recent events.

And recent interview with the CEO is only cherry on top

 

Securom wasn’t adware, lmao.

 

Well, seems like I'm too dumb for C++ then
But I have another question for you then: how many indie (small team/solo developed) games are released using UE in a year and how many using Unity? It's like 1 to 100? 1 to 300?
How do you think why?

 

Subtract the asset flips and the numbers dont look that bad.

 

This isn't a very well-formed question. You should be asking how many high-quality indie games are shipped using UE vs Unity per year.

Unity is literally infamous for asset flip shovelwear games, so pure volume is kind of irrelevant.

 

I imagine the reason there's more people releasing games with Unity than UE4 or 5 is from a variety of factors.

1. Unity has a long-established history in indie games, having had a free option since 2.6 back in 2009. This immediately gives them a head start. Unreal Engine 4 did not become completely free until 2015 and UDK had a strict non-commercial license before that
2. Unity has user tutorials and third-party resources for documentation spanning back most of that length of time as well. This isn't just YouTube, but posts on Medium, various stackexchange responses, the forums, Unity Answers, Reddit, all sorts of places. The wealth of knowledgeable resources is a major boon to Unity (which is why their plan to shut down Answers a while ago was so F***ing stupid)
3. The Asset Store, whether or not you're gonna cry about asset flips, is also a major boon. Having access to a variety of both paid and free addons within the Unity ecosystem (see: not just github and the like) is huge and Unreal's similar offering is incredibly lacking

Yeah I think y'all give too much credit to how many people know/care about asset flips. If we're talking about the awareness of games and nebulously defined "high-quality" games, the answer still skews heavily in Unity's favour.

 

Still, its Unity's stigma that each game that is released have to withold

 

Oh for sure, mostly for the reasons you listed. Though, even if you have a pretty liberal definition for 'quality' it's not as much of a blowout as the original quoted poster suggested.

 

Not adware. It was DRM that was essentially malware in that it couldn't be fully uninstalled and caused problems with legitimate hardware and software. That's what led to the lawsuits. It was bad enough that Microsoft later cited it as a possible security loophole and intentionally broke compatibility with it in Windows 10.

My point is that there's precedent with Riccitello and questionable software being bundled with the product, therefore it's not a completely unfounded concern that Unity in the future could do something similar. Whether or not it actually happens remains to be seen...

 

I don't know if Unreal being associated with Chinese company Tencent is ethically much different than Unity being associated with Israeli company Ironsource. In other words, if you're concerned about ethics in game development then there is nowhere to run to.

 

I am not concerned where investment comes from the world. Most people misunderstand Chinese and act superstitious. That nation is far too advanced to do stupid things. They will of course compete as is their lifelong philosophy. I think we can tell that with tencent, Epic has been getting stronger, not weaker.

So the way to see it is to admire their skill and learn from them as they do us, see what kind of opportunities can be had, especially in business.

 

I don't give a S*** about where IronSource is based but I sure give a S*** about their ongoing legacy as a company.

 

Yeah, sorry, but I just can’t take the whole “violation of my privacy” thing serious anymore.

If you have a cellphone it listens into your conversations and tracks your movement at all times.

If you go into a casino they use facial recognition software to make a profile of you and track your habits to maximize the likelihood of making you addicted.

If you go to any major store they do the same and track what you are looking at.

Every website tracks you.

VPN networks DEFINITELY track you.

Amazon openly surveillances you and you pay for the privilege.

It’s over.

We lost.

Get over it.

There’s no point in being sanctimonious about it.

EDIT: and not to overdose on cynicism, but I find it hysterical that everyone is okay with all this, but then flips out when cities use microphones to triangulate gunshots.

 

There are ways to restrict it.

https://www.techradar.com/features/...-and-now-i-can-never-go-back-to-google-chrome

There are VPNs where the main selling point is that they don't keep any data on you and are independently audited on that.

 

And if you believe that, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn for sale if you are interested…

 

Your choice if you don't want to believe me.

 

@Ryiah You know I’m just teasing and I of course I don’t think you are a fool, right?

I personally am very jaded and think that 99% of every company who claims not to do it is lying.

And I guarantee that most VPN services regularly commit blackmail. Mostly a against pedophiles, so good, but all the same.

 

China is made up of people, and people are in general greedy and dumb. China is not immune to this trend in any way, and may be have a worse case of it due to their political structure. (and we wouldn't know, also because of their political structure)

 

Thus why I mentioned VPNs that are independently audited.

 

Your done with Unity?. Good. Take your butt-hurt, attention grabbing, self absorbed, mentality, and see how that works out with your "next engine of choice". Which will only delay your current projects productivity. Even i thought of porting over to another engine, but the time needed to do so was extensive, and very time consuming. Do your research.

Wanna jump ship?, go ahead, the current version of Unity you use (hopefully standalone), will not be effected. Only the furture URP (mobile based) builds will be. "Your integrity" , well youve already shown that. I say good riddens...

 

Man You are salty.

 

Exactly, that's the reason everyone is staying, and not because Unity is the better choice.

 

No, im realistic...

 

I don't know if whining on the forums about other people complaining can be called "realistic".