Unity 5 Pro/Free feature split

When is the feature split between Pro/Free being announced?

I’ve already upgraded my Unity Pro licence on the desktop, but I’m hesitant to renew my iOS Pro licence until I see what I’m getting for my money - I may just use Free this time around as my current project is not for mobile. However, the preorder discount expires on Nov 13 (this Thursday).

From memory, the feature split for Unity 4 Pro was announced before the preorder discount expired.

 

Yeah I am waiting for this too and it expires next week..

 

2 days until preorder discount expires, still awaiting word on U5 pro/free feature split.

 

I agree, your ask is totally sense, if somebody pay thousands of dollars for a game engine is necesary know the differences of the free and pay versions, sadly we can only speculate about that, in my opinion Unity 5 will be have the same differences that version 4 and refer to new features, webGL publishing (free and pro), PBS (free and pro), new audio system (free and pro), 64 bit editor (free and pro), memory profiling (only pro), dynamic GI lighting (only pro), good luck.

 

If you've already spent the money, why would you be concerned about the feature split?

 

he wants to know if it's worth updating his iOS license too.

 

I see no reason to assume that PBS will be different on free vs pro - it's just a shader... in fact, it's called the "Standard" shader for a reason.

 

In my case I have Unity 4 pro and iOS pro, but I am not convinced I need Unity 5 pro based on what I use the product for. To take advantage of the discount you need to order Unity 5 within the next two days or pay a higher price. It would be nice to know what features I would be getting or missing out on before I drop 600-1200 bucks for the upgrade. I definitely will not do it before I see the list and if that's the way it goes down this is probably the last straw for me.

 

This is indeed a strange move by UT. The deadline for the preorder discount suggests U5 is almost production-ready. However if this was the case the feature split certainly would have to be known for weeks now.
I guess U5 is just not ready for shipping yet and the discount period will be prolonged.

But in any case a comment by UT is obligatory now if the don't want to upset their customers again due to bad communication.
@UT, please don't make this mistake again!

 

Unity 4.6 is fairly minor yet they went up to at least 20 beta releases. Unity 5 is major and has only had 12 so far.

 

Unity 4.6 has one of the most requested features in the past few years. It's hardly minor

 

Does Unity 5 have a whole website dedicated to telling us when it finally comes out?

 

It is minor though compared to the much larger collection of changes coming with 5.0. I expect at least another month of beta releases for 5.0. If not longer due to the holidays.

 

The email they have sent multiple times now warning that time is running out certainly seems to indicate that as well with strong wording like:

I don't know why this company likes to make it so hard to feel good about giving them money. This isn't a whine about the price, just basic common sense that customers want to see the official feature list before paying.

 

Well I guess that's that. Back to working with SDL2 now for my 2D stuff...if only they had fun forums.

 

Try their IRC

Yesterday's blog was about improving documentation via feedback buttons. I think it should extend to everywhere on this site.

 

Wow, they seriously never posted anything to tell people what they'd be buying? Seems unity indeed doesn't want our money....

 

Here is what you are buying:
http://unity3d.com/5

 

What people are asking is what they're NOT buying when not getting Pro, though

 

A subset of the things on that page.
The sale is an upgrade sale correct? Targeted at those who have pro (4) already? Presumably if you already are working in/purchased pro, it is unlikely you are going to downgrade. Even in that very rare case, what company would promote a sale and at the same time promote an alternative that would might turn a paying customer into a free one?

Also, it is a pretty safe bet that the split will be pretty much the same (in grand context). The only thing that would incentivize people that were actually on the fence over the feature split would be to remove even more features from free. If they went the other way, it would have the opposite effect. Either way, it is pretty understandable why they haven't announced details yet.

 

The question is whether to go from, for example, 4 pro to 5 pro. Blindly buying with no idea of if you need to for your needs isn't something any responsible dev or company does. Unity is shooting themselves in the foot asking upgrades to be made this way... what seller tells people "buy this, we won't tell you what you get but c'mon, buy..... please??????". No one, because it is absurd.

 

Sure, but if we're a company then chances are that we do know if we need it or not, because the license limitations will matter long before the functional ones do. If you're a company that can afford more than one employee (where I live), it's highly unlikely that the free license is a legitimate option to you.

 

Really? It it seems the other way around.
Let's say you are a pro 4 user. If you are on the fence whether to upgrade, hoping there may be switch in the free features, and you skip the sale because of this. One of two things happens:
a) you realize you still need the feature and purchase at full price. (Unity gets full price)
b) there is a change and you opt not to go 5 pro. (no loss because because had you known you still wouldn't have bought).
The only one really losing out are those who skip the deal hoping that the one feature they need might suddenly become free. That has got to be a very tiny segment, especially since they shelled out for pro in the first place.

But its a sale, thats the point it is limited time and an opportunity. If you don't feel you have enough info and are making upgrade decisions about what may or may not be in the other product, you miss out.

 

There's a "c" option there too, @zombiegorilla, in that you could decide to stick with 4 Pro. If you don't need the new features and your target platforms don't require maintenance updates then you're probably fine, at least for a while.

 

Very true. Or if you are in the middle of a project and you have bought pro already, it is highly unlikely that you made the decision to purchase pro based on a single feature (that may switch). You pretty much know if you need pro 5 now. If you are on the fence or think you may need it in the future, a discount will help sell it. If you are on the fence, and a discount doesn't move you, it was a lost sale already. (or a full price sale in the future).

Ultimately, it is pretty funny. People will always complain about price. Even if they knock $900 off the price, they will find a reason to complain.

 

Very true. But that isn't exactly Unity "shooting themselves in the foot" though is it? Still a lost sale either way. And possibly a full price sale in the future.

--

Side note, given how often hardware/platform changes (on the mobile side), It's a safe bet that 4 won't be updated forever, and at some point you will hit a wall. We are moving to 5 on most projects even though we don't need to from a feature standpoint. More from a future-proof position.

 

Really? We have posted FAR more than enough information on all of the things in Unity 5.0 and the future.

Some Links:
http://unity3d.com/5
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX2vGYjWbI0RIOrarVbhGenql_tfWGuVq
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX2vGYjWbI0RP5YmvwgqgJQrHGul-Tnr_

 

Lot of people missing the point here.

If I only need one or two features of Pro(non native DLL's, networking, etc.) it would be prudent to wait and see if they are going to be in the pro edition or free edition since Unity will most likely be moving some things between the two editions.

It seems counter intuitive to me to expire your preorder discount before you've even decided the features you're going to be charging for. To be absolutely clear the features they are charging for is not the full list on the Unity 5 page, it is the delta between whatever is available in free and pro.

EDIT: In any case I will not be upgrading now so it is a moot point. If folks think it is normal for a company to not even announce the paid features of their product when it is supposedly "almost here" that is odd to me. I have no illwill towards Unity and I made some fun stuff with it, some of which is even on appstores.

 

Oh, personally I know full well what I need, but your circumstance is exactly what my point and post was about.

Andy, we know what unity 5 provides as a whole, of course, that was never in question. The curiosity is what specifically your pro license is to enable in terms of functionality (it is highly unusual to not specify this to buyers) . Thanks for your response however.


I'm also confused by the responses regarding price, which also was never mentioned or in question.

 

I can however reveal important information about the free and paid split. There's 100% more chance that your game will be better if you get pro

 

maybe there will be free, standard and pro versions

 

Whatever the option, I'm always going pro or I'm going home!

 

tha's how we roll

 

Don't you already work from your home? Where else you going to go?

 

Work of course!

 

You tease!

I know of a few indie teams who'll jump at Unity 5 Pro if there are some major changes to pricing. I'm using both Pro and free, because I only have desktop Pro, but occasionally dabble in mobile stuff. Make me feel the add-on upgrades are worth it

 

Thank you for listening.

A lower price point would be most welcome or what ever you have planned.

I cannot wait!

 

That sounds very promising. Looking forward to seeing what you guys have up your sleeves.

For what it's worth; If the subscription option also allowed you to use what you had paid over the year towards the purchase of a perpetual licence I would be on it like a rat up a drain pipe.

 

It does sound promising, but I'm not taking it as a promise.

Another idea for what it's worth: Asset Store publishers get 100% of the income (rather than the normal 70%) when the money is used towards buying Unity Pro and/or add ons.

 

They can also push back the end of the preorder discount until they have decide the split...
Sorry stupid suggestion

 

I don't know if its beens suggested before in the many other pricing threads etc... but it might be cool if you could subscribe to the subscription model, pay the whatever monthly fee, with the understanding that once you've paid $1500 in subscription fees, you now receive the full permanent license and stop paying. All the pieces are basically already in place. Unity already has things set up to receive a monthly payment. There's already contractual stuff done to ensure you must buy at least 1 year's worth of subscription, etc... the only missing piece is conversion to a full permanent license once you've subscribed for the full $1500 worth. This essentially would be kind of like a 'payment plan' with monthly installments, like paying off a new car ... once you've completed the payments it's yours to own fully. Then if you are a subscriber who bails after 1 year, no worries, no loss, Unity instantly reclaims the license, in effect, because you don't get to keep accessing the pro version. For me this would open the door to a massive number of users who would be willing and able to pay for Unity 'eventually' but who can't or don't want to thrown down $1500 right off the bat. I know many people are totally willing to just pay the amount, or dive in, or take a risk, or whatever, but that's not everyone's preference. With this tiny little twist of eventual ownership at $1500 .. whether that happens as 2 years of subscription or whatever, it would then allow far more people to use Unity Pro right away at the start of the subscription period, knowing that if they keep up with the subscription model for long enough they will gain ownership. It may in effect make more people keep paying the subscription for longer, as an incentive, rather than possibly bailing after 1 year. I think if this was in place I would go for it. The main turnoff for the subscription model for me right now is that after paying all that money, I eventually stop being able top use it, unless I keep on paying money endlessly. I could still be paying for it in 10 years from now. That's not really appealing.

 

@imaginaryhuman its much less advantageous to UT to get $1500 over ~2 years than to get it all at once (additional processing fees, managing bounced payments, inability to leverage the money right away, etc).

However if the plan was set up to follow the standard markups found in hire-purchase agreements, the price would be north of $2000, at that point our license would be getting close to two major versions out of date by the time you paid it off.

Not sure it sounds viable at that point.

 

I'm with @imaginaryhuman on this one. I understand Unity's side of it though so I could see it simply being more expensive in payments, say $2000. The catch is that once you stop paying because you paid enough, your fully licensed version freezes at that point unless you keep paying. You could then possibly have the option of when to convert once you've paid enough, so you can time it at the very beginning of a release cycle, and then Unity has the possibility of getting more funds than just the minimum.

And for security, as ugly as it is, Unity would have to maintain the right to decide how long you could stop payments on a temporary basis and still keep the "streak" going. If they didn't, then the abovementioned thing about making a couple extra payments to stall the license conversion to non-perpetual wouldn't make any sense for Unity.

 

The "pay monthly fee until a certain amount of money has been paid" is basically a credit agreement. That's what banks are for! We did investigate this when we started to plan the subscription, but it required us to set up a credit agency and we did not want to do that. The user sampling we did indicated that users would prefer to pay a fixed monthly price and get all upgrades.

 

So - Unity is going subscription based or I am misunderstanding?

 

We launched subscription around 18 months ago. The purchase options are to buy outright - $1500, or pay monthly subscription, $75. Nothing has changed, and we'll continue to have outright purchase and subscription for 5.0.

(And my comment about the user sampling, was the stuff we did 18 months ago to work out how to do subscription. The benefit of subscription is that you get all upgrades included in your monthly fee. So, customers who are using 4.x subscription today, will automagically get access to 5.x when we ship. Users who'd purchased subscription using the (not implemented) credit agreement approach would have ended up with a 4.x licence and be angry with us that they now need to pay to upgrade to 5.x.)

 

Alright thanks for the info. I will be keeping tabs on this thread and the Unity 3D Licensing in general.

Thank you for your reply,

HeadClot

 

While its appropriate for you to say its a line of credit.. there is absolutely no difference really between this and having a subscription. What's the difference between having a subscription deal for 1 year and paying like $700 over the course of time, with a 1-year commitment, and saying that it's a $700 line of credit? There is absolutely no difference there. I'm not saying to give people credit, I'm saying to let them be subscribers, but once you hit a certain paid amount switch the licenses over. If you want to call it credit, fine, that's just a word for a concept. The subscription model is already credit. Unity is already `okay with` letting people use Unity Pro for whatever the monthly fee is, one month at a time. How is that not a credit agreement? Yes people have banks, but so what. You get $1500 from a bank you have to pay it all back no matter what. You be a Unity subscriber, at least if you fail to be able to keep paying up to the $1500 limit there is nothing to `pay back`, you just get your rights of use revoked, which is like giving the product back in new condition.

As far as the `you're paying for an older version` thing goes... I don't see why. Once you've paid up your $1500 or whatever, you get the current version.

 

Couldn't you simply give a coupon code every 24 months to the subscriber that can be used to obtain a perpetual license?