Official Unity plan pricing and packaging updates

It's funny how some people in the thread for gamedev don't understand how this cat and mouse game work in software development. Quite frankly makes little sense. This is exactly what people will do. Just imagine what the bad actors will do.

 

unity is run by morons

 

Unity pretty please? I really like this meme I created, please just this one, do not delete it again. I will not post any other memes if you keep this up. Promise.

 

i think flax is the best alternative https://flaxengine.com/features/

 

Ooh definitely, the post number is going down every time i refresh, no wonder i keep getting lost

 

It seems the reply to it still exists. I’ve attached a screenshot of it as well.

As it so happens: I have update the Terms of Service for viewing my forum posts. By beginning to read any of my posts, you’ve already indicated irrevocable consent; and only the latest terms apply. These new terms require any Unity Technology employee to CashPal me seventy seven dollars and sixty nine cents ($77.69) each time my post is viewed. As well, this retroactive fee applies to all prior times my posts were viewed too.

I consulted the closest lawyer to confirm this is how all that works, and they asked that I pass on their message that “you betta have our money money, fool.”

 

If Unity is going to track installs on all platforms how is this not going to influence 100% of all developers? How can we be sure that Unity will change their mind next year and change conditions of the fee? ToS have been changed to make the way free for "other" changes.

I appreciate the clarifications & reverted changes for re-installs, demos,... but the question is still how the install tracking is done! Will we have to include some kind of spyware in our apps and deliver it to our customers? Will we've insight into the data for verification?

I'm sure you'll understand the mistrust of many of us regarding this issue, especially with the recent and quick changes done to the ToS and license terms Unity did. I would like to know how trackings will work and how I can verify the bill I'm getting from Unity!

And lastly, how is it legal that you could put on a fee on already released applications and if so what would prevent Unity from doing some more fees onto our applications in maybe 1-3 yrs then, to something **we never agreed on in the first place**???

 

i think it was a bug (i want to believe) it is all good
https://forum.unity.com/threads/uni...ckaging-updates.1482750/page-105#post-9308861

 

F*** me did they really try to hide that gem of a post... oh no now it's going to live on in the greatest way possible, it's PRIME F***ery

 

its just a stupid move. its like the best way to make everyone pissed while risking mobile casual titles switching to other engines. who ever at unity thought that doing it this way, instead of a layered 5% revenue fee, should be fired and publicly apologize.
tons of devs with 10 years+ will go away. its unbelievable stupid on all levels. unity change this or you will *ucking die as a company in the next 4 years

 

“Here’s your bill”

“What’s this based on?”

“This is based on how many people installed the Unity Runtime in your name”

“How can you prove this?”

“Our top secret proprietary gimmick says it’s true. We trust it 100%”l, and so should you.”

Hm.

 

Oh cool, there was a response. Let's have a look...

OK, good start. You're noticing people are frustrated because some are at risk of losing their livelihoods and their work over a bizarre, invasive system that I can only describe as an ill-gotten gain.

...And it started so well.

OK, so, over 90% of people won't be affected by this charge. Fine. That's still as much as 10% who are affected; 10% too many, I would argue. If you need to jerry-rig a safeguard like what's being suggested so that those who are simply incapable of affording this can keep going, then what you have isn't a plan, but a shambles.

Right, what next in the parade of constant disappointment...

How do you determine a "new" install? The first time a game is installed by an end user at all? Or on a fingerprinted system, where a change in components makes an effective new system? You need to be providing better answers than this, because this isn't helpful.

As good sounding as this is by comparison, there are so many criteria here that make this all the more confusing for anyone who isn't business oriented. For a start, how are you going to determine a re-install? Presumably, device fingerprinting, but again, does this just become a regular install if components change or a new operating system is installed?

How do you determine "fraudulent installs"? It feels like a weird thing to be introducing, because it reads like it puts the onus on the developer(s) to contact you in order to sort out, which, after a while, will become unwieldy to manage. Similarly, how do you determine "charity-related" installs? How are you going to differentiate between an install from a bundle key and a retail key? This all introduces many more questions than can be satisfactorily answered in a blog post.

OK, so, what about the overwhelmingly unwelcome change in the Terms of Service policies that allow for an updated ToS to be grafted onto games that were never made under them? How are you going to ensure the up-to-10% of users affected by this won't be left destitute in the end?

Developers need details. Developers need answers. Developers need transparency.

Developers need to be able to trust you, Unity. I see very few developers willing to trust you, especially on the last point I bring up.

 

When I first read about this, I thought it is a hoax, that it cannot be, someone misunderstood something, etc.

Well, if this is the case, yes, it is time to think avout leaving Unity.

 

No new companies that are pitching games are going to go with unity as long as these extra fees are in play.

 

again, is not, the best alternative is Unigine, i'm going to make a video soon

 

It isn't.

 

I couldn't hold my laugh.

 

"more than 90% of our customers will not be affected by this change"

Ok imagine the following:
Unity announces that he will roll a d20 for each of its customers, and if it rolled 20 that customer is billed for 100.000 usd. this way 95%!!! of unity users are unaffected! No you cant see the dice. Trust us.

 

He's probably been ordered not to engage again.

 

Sorry, we'll have to delete that meme there, pal. That'll also be $.20 per meme deleted since you"ve passed the threshold of allowed memes.

 

Unless they specify exactly what distributer means, this sounds like they are going to try and charge valve, microsoft, etc? I'm sorry, but this is just not going to happen.

It would take care about some concerns about fraudulent installs, because piracy can probably easily excluded, but I just don't think that any of those companies will give unity money for installs. I don't think any of these companies have any agreements with Unity so they can't just charge them.

 

Eventually Unity will expose the fraud in the ad business thanks to developers reacting to install tracking

 

Maybe they should just branch out to other industries. Start building tanks maybe?

But seriously, Epic has less employees and they additionally run a super profitable game, a game store, an asset store, a ton of other useful and popular services like sketchfab or quixel, and give the engine part for free almost, bar the 5% revenue share that probably only touches extremely successful indies and big AAA studios. And they are a private company too - remind me why Unity absolutely had to do the IPO thing again? Wouldn't it be better to keep the company private until it becomes profitable?

 

This pricing will kill the mobile gaming industry or Unity will kill itself and UE or Godot will dominate the mobile gaming industry.
The profit margin is already quite low for games that generate ad-based revenue. So while they are trying to lower CPI's and increase revenue, now this extra cost per install will kill these games.
Also, let's say an in-app purchase based mobile game is installed 1 million times, a very low percentage of installers spend. Therefore, we will have to pay Unity while we can't generate revenue from every installer. It's a joke.

 

It's not even just tracking installs. They haven't even defined what an install is yet. They have backtracked from yesterday which said that every page load in WebGL is an install. But what about game updates, if it's changing registry data or exe's or something? What about DLC's which do the same thing and add content? Or a locked demo with ingame purchases for the full game? How about a "full" game with ingame purchases for extra levels?

What if I make a single "game" (launcher) that adds a bunch of extra games through asset bundles that are purchased separately? Are those installs? Or am I now selling several games with just one install?

 

The update by Unity guy is just another word play. The only drawback you will find in comparison to the one in first page is about webgl. Again, they will say what ever they think people need to hear, put apply the whole thing as described on the first page. From now on, if the COE does not resign, I will not thrust Unity anymore. I will begin to move my almost 5 years old, getting released 15 days later - project to Unreal Engine for a better and reliable future of my company. And I will ask for a refund for my Unity Plus account. Some of the great Unity Asset Store assets will be wasted, but better than any future ambiguity that Unity is bringing on to my company right now. So, I will wait to see if CEO resigns and these changes are immediately canceled. I won't wait whole week. I won't compensate another word play. That's it!

 

I'm not sure it entirely is.
Saw this post on Twitter.

 

I'll just repost my initial response, which got lost in the previous 100 pages.

And I'll also add.

* The only reason you would charge by install instead of by revenue or sales numbers, is you like how vague it is. And you can play around with it and no one can dispute it. How can we bring proof about the number of installs by reinstalls, frauds or botnets. Are we just supposed to trust you?. Refer to point 3 in my initial post.

* It's funny how when someone buys our game, and installs it to a different PC, My team and I who made the game don't get paid again, Steam which hosted the game don't get paid again, Windows which ran the exe don't get paid again. But somehow, you are the only one who deserves to get paid again.

* It's important to mention that I also do not agree to any form of DRM or tracking on my users. I don't want to judge anybody, but I find it completely unethical, and I don't want it in my games. And before you claim that you're not doing that, please know that we are all developers here, and there's no way you would be able to "track" all the things which you claim you will (reinstalls, frauds, bots...) without some form of user tracking.

 

Imagine you wake up to a registered mail from scumware-your-game-v1.1.piratesite.com with an invoice for you for distributing your game. turns out they sold 200k copies! They need to bill you a convenience fee for handling Unity's distributor charge for you

 

The situation with Unity can be described as implosion, when the star dies it implodes from the internal forces , well it was quite interesting experience, but really 20 cents for install , how dumb they Unity think that we are?

 

EXACTLY, they put this out into the world and didn't actually sit and think it over, it's like they came up with the idea in the middle of the night and just pushed it to be announced the next morning.

 

This is the attitude!

 

SHHH!!!! I'm not out of the community, i'm out (supposedly) of the thread, it's on repeat, there is no news, and i'm out of popcorn.
I appreciate the concern though, that's kind!

Take care, from the notification

 

Damn 1.5 mil subscribers, already 500k+ views. Yeah Unity, you're definitely gonna come out of this unscathed and without a hit to the bottom line.

 

Wait that can be worse, if somebody get hold of your game and run a script with reinstalling game continuously.
Evil people would do it, and i know that such people in the world do exist.

 

LoL

Some regions may differ but that is really not a hill you want to fight on and even if that was legal .. which again in many regions it just plane is not. That is a serious red flag for anyone considering to do business with Unity. Strait up Unity saying we get to change the commercials of the relationship at any time no agreement required and that applies to all projects ever ... just no that is not how reality works.

So for a dev that signed up and downloaded (agreeing to terms) of Unity 30 days ago they are on those terms. You can change your TOS doc till your blue in the face that doesn't change the commercials agreed at the time of the relationship. For future updates sure you have a leg to stand on ... but the retro-active BS ... ya no you do not at least not in most regions.

None of this matters at this point though the fact that Unity would even have the inkling to suggest they could much less actually attempt to do is Unity showing its not a partner that can or should be trusted.

 

Setting aside how much you spoke vs. how little you said - Why should any of us trust Unity Technologies for one more second? Why should I believe even what little clarification your post did provide?

What on Earth is stopping you from simply changing the Terms of Service again in a year? In a month? In a week? Tomorrow? You just pulled the floorboards out from underneath us all, with no warning and no reasonable way to measure what you plan to bill us for so why wouldn't you do it further? When will you start penalizing us every time our game starts running? When will you start penalizing us every time our game hits three hours played? When will you start penalizing us for uninstalls? The sky's the limit when you can simply change the terms of service on a whim to suit your greed, to say nothing of your changes being retroactively applied to games we created and released under completely different terms that we both agreed to at the time.

This money making scheme makes no sense to anyone but you, and the "clarifications" from Unity have only made it worse. Give us real answers or retract this nonsense policy you're desperate to foist on us.

 

I guess they will (among other things) try to associate an install with the MAC-address to detect re-installs.

 

You better have some seriously convincing arguments...

 

CORRECT

 

yeah, it even breaches their previous terms, which say you can reject new terms if they're to our detriment, and even receive updates as long as you don't move to the following years version, so we're all safe as long as we don't start using 2024.x - At least its easy to prove

 

This is out and out, open predatory business move overnight. Pure parasites!

 

I'm seeing more and more posts about concerned players who don't want to install games with preinstalled tracking software. I can't say I blame them.

For gamers, this will put an even worse reputation on unity made games than it already is.