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Unity apologises for the new runtime fee, say they will make changes

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After leaving developers furious for nearly a whole week after the recent announcement of making developers pay for game installs, Unity put up a fresh statement. I really do suggest you read that previous link for context, where I went over various issues.

The statement from Unity posted on X is as follows: "We have heard you. We apologize for the confusion and angst the runtime fee policy we announced on Tuesday caused. We are listening, talking to our team members, community, customers, and partners, and will be making changes to the policy. We will share an update in a couple of days. Thank you for your honest and critical feedback."

So right now game developers have to wait and see what changes Unity come up with. For some, nothing short of entirely reversing it will do. Plenty of developers are already quite unhappy with the latest statement since it has nothing of actual substance after waiting nearly a week.

The problem is, as said by many developers, the trust has been broken. They've shown a total disregard for game developers since they're willing to change the terms on them at any point. Even if they put in protections against that, as shown before, they could just remove them again. How can a company rebuild trust when it has been so badly broken? It certainly will be interesting to see what they actually do.

Looks like we're in for an interesting week ahead for the industry…

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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36 comments
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Beaky Sep 18, 2023
Quoting: FurysparkThe only way they are likely to rebuild trust is by publicly executing John Rikitikitaco and all the other wretches who thought this was a good idea. Or at the very least, the next best thing to execution.

Death threats are never OK.
It's just a Game Engine, no one deserves to die just because they did a (admittedly very stupid and bad) business decision.

2 Unity offices have already shut down because of that, and if you think that people should die because they're changing the financiation of a game engine I think you should be reported to the authorities.


Last edited by Beaky on 18 September 2023 at 3:02 pm UTC
junibegood Sep 18, 2023
Quoting: Purple Library GuyThe non-apology, take-no-responsibility apology is taught in PR/corporatelawyercritter 101. Say what you did was actually wrong and it could be the basis for a lawsuit, goes the reasoning. Some of the more up-to-date corporate flacks who took recent PR 201 have actually been told "The non-apology apology is so cliched that everybody notices what you're doing; they just annoy the public. Genuine apologies are much more effective." Apparently the Unity folks don't have any of the more recent PR graduates.

Or maybe they went to PR 301 and are ahead of their time. At some point, the public will start noticing that every company does the fake genuine apologies taught in PR 201 and they will have to try something else again.
slembcke Sep 18, 2023
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I've been working with on Unity projects as a contractor since 2009. (The editor was Mac only back then!) I don't plan on holding my breath. >_<

I really hope that this convinces a lot of people to try Godot even if it's not the "most powerful" or whatever. It's going to be just fine for a lot of projects. I also hope people start considering that a lot of games (particularly 2D) don't even need an engine... There's so many great tools and libraries out there that aren't all unified up into an engine. Heck, even my nephew made a little game from scratch in Pico8 because nobody told him it was "hard". It doesn't have to be rocket surgery if you aren't shooting for the stars.


Last edited by slembcke on 18 September 2023 at 3:15 pm UTC
elmapul Sep 18, 2023
i will forgive then if they accept to pay me 20 cents every time my game get installed.
oh, by the way, my game got installed 10 million times this week!
source: trust me!
Cryve Sep 18, 2023
RIP Unity
Lib-Inst Sep 18, 2023
isnt this bad news for linux? from what i understand that engine supports linux.
hell0 Sep 18, 2023
Quoting: Installisnt this bad news for linux? from what i understand that engine supports linux.

Unity's linux support is really hit-or-miss see Heart of the Machine dropping Native Linux for example.

Also, most public game engines do support linux nowadays. What tends to be the problem are third party libraries/plugins (like the kind used to play videos or make hairs look hairy). Or the devs lack of competence with the OS.

Overall since Unity's closest competitor is arguably Godot and since Godot has better linux support, I'd say this is a slightly positive news from a strictly linux point of view.
Lofty Sep 18, 2023
Is it that once you join a corporation you become a gas lighting narcissist or do you only get employed if you are a gas lighting narcissist.

There is a theory, that says that to become a successful manager in a very big corporation you essentially have to be a low level sociopath to succeed. I mean for society at large that's the equivalent of flushing the toilet and all the turds float to the top instead of being left with a basin of clean water.

Like others have said here i don't think calls to violence are ever appropriate.


Last edited by Lofty on 18 September 2023 at 9:17 pm UTC
CatKiller Sep 18, 2023
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Quoting: LoftyIs it that once you join a corporation you become a gas lighting narcissist or do you only get employed if you are a gas lighting narcissist.

The people at the top have been to gas lighting narcissism school. Some - like former EA CEO now Unity CEO John Riccitiello - have spent additional years honing their craft subsequently.

People that aren't at or near the top that are employed by a corporation have no special powers in that regard.
Lofty Sep 18, 2023
Quoting: CatKiller
Quoting: LoftyIs it that once you join a corporation you become a gas lighting narcissist or do you only get employed if you are a gas lighting narcissist.

The people at the top have been to gas lighting narcissism school. Some - like former EA CEO now Unity CEO John Riccitiello - have spent additional years honing their craft subsequently.

People that aren't at or near the top that are employed by a corporation have no special powers in that regard.

Sadly i don't think it's just a upbringing or education thing. Sure it plays a big part but Nature vs Nurture. Some people are just wired that way.
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