Selling many compiled unity programs privately.

Hi All,

I was wondering what the policy is for creating a business where the product I sell, is the program/apk/webplayer, and isn't a single game used for mass distribution across marketplaces.

I am creating a custom-made app/program solution for businesses that will have their logos and branding and I want create many many different solutions (one for each client).

When it comes to requiring Unity Pro to develop. Do i need to be making $100,000 off a single release or is it income over a term period? I will definitely be getting Unity Pro as soon as I can afford it, however I haven't seen anyone here use this business model so I am not too sure if there is anything I need to watch out for.

Thanks!

 

The $100,000 requirement is the total income of the entity using Unity. If "you" are a business, then if your business makes over $100,000 a year you are required to purchase Unity Pro. For example, if Microsoft wanted to use a copy of Unity for any reason (even if it makes them no money), it would need to be a Pro copy because as a whole Microsoft makes well over $100,000 a year.

If you are a person who has a day-job, the income from that day-job would also be included in the $100,000 calculation.

 

Actually, we had quite a discussion about this fairly recently and this may not be accurate. There seems to be a lot of confusion on it because searching for info on the terms on these forums you can find various posts talking about it first one way then another way. Based on that latest discussion the $100k boundary does not apply to individuals only to businesses and in any event the income from your job would not be considered. Again, I do not know for certain that is just based on that latest discussion on it. Still, I didn't get that from reading their EULA because it very specifically uses the term legal entity and a person (in law speak a "natural person") is a legal entity. So make of it what you will.

 

Going back to my situation. So I can distribute anything I make with Unity freely?

 

Sorry what are you actually selling? You can't sell the webplayer...

 

Im selling the service of creating 3d models and products that are navigateable within the app. A company will pay me for time spent creating the 3d model (their product) and also a fee for the usage of the envionment i develop for the models, the ui system, the features etc. the end product they pay for is the .exe i send them, or the .apk for their android phone etc. or the webplayer intergration into their website. They can come back at any time and i can make changes to it.

It's not any different from creating a game and distributing it, however each "game" i create is custom tailored to a specific client.

 

So this is fundamentally no different from releasing 20 small game titles a year?

In this case the EULA is pretty clear. If your business makes more then 100k a year then you need to buy pro. This is true weather you release 100 games or no games at all. For a business this is all revenue streams, not just games. So if WalMart wanted to use Unity they would need pro.

For individuals the waters are more murky. But generally if Unity and your day job are unrelated then income from your day job doesn't count. Income from other household members doesn't count (again unless you are making money off the same Unity project).

As for time period its based on the last fiscal year. The fiscal year varies depending on what country you are in.

Either way if you are going to come close to the limit, then get a lawyer and an accountant to set you up properly with whatever business structure is appropriate.

 

Ok sweet. I just needed some confirmation that I can do what I am planning and it sounds like its not a problem. In that case, i'll report back when i'm making $100,000 a year! hahaaha. *dreams*

 

I would think for the professional quality alone, you'd want to invest in the Pro license so you can trim out the Unity splash screen and use the extra visual effects and optimization features to really up your game, but yeah, it doesn't seem like you're required to.

 

That is most definitely the goal here! I'm trying to get some decent looking brushed metal textures that "pop" from within Unity.

Below is the goal:

 

Do a search for an anisotropic shader.