[Mikail2155]

So you may have seen recently a bit of an internet backlash by numerous developers against Unity and in case you may have not heard, I'll try my best to explain. So basically, Unity is a game engine that alot of game developers use to create their games with - big examples of games made on Unity are 'Among Us', 'Cult of the Lamb', 'Rust' etc. And these developers have to already pay a massive subscription fee to be able to use Unity's dev toolkits. So to add more salt to the wound, Unity came out with a price plan in which they receive $0.20 per installation of any game developed via Unity Engine, it certainly varies depending on how many copies you sell, but that's average amount. Well, this little cut of revenue has gotten developers all across the industry furious especially because it means if their games are installed in huge bulks, they will suffer from huge monetary cuts from their revenue. And here's the worst part, the $0.20 is not only based on a single copy being bought and installed, it even counts when a player re-installs that copy numerous times in the future. EXAMPLE ( if a gamer buys a copy of a game and installs it, Unity gets a cut, then if that player un-installs and re-installs the game later on, Unity still gets ANOTHER CUT!) Do you now see the problem and the reason behind this outrage. Especially if you're an indie developers and your resources are limited, if your game gets installed and re-installed by the millions, they can theoretically go bankrupt - especially if your game exist in services like the PS PLUS Catalog or Xbox Game Pass. If you thought 'review bombing' was bad, wait until 'install bombing' happens in which a collective group of people exploit this price plan and install/re-install a game to the point of driving that studio to BANKRUPTCY! Now that you understand this, developers are not staying quiet about this, and some have vowed to switch to another game engines and even de-list their games from digital stores unless Unity changes or completely removes this predatory price plan.

This is still an ongoing event, as we are all waiting for an official update from Unity themselves. And its important to know that such financial practices shouldn't be condoned, becuase if Unity gets away with it, what will stop other game engines such as Unreal Engine or Crytek from doing the very same thing.

[mohamed_5090]

Of course everyone will go to Unreal Engine or Crytek
They will not impose a price on each installation, like the Unity engine
because everyone will certainly turn to them after the high prices of the Unity engine.
So they won't do the same thing

[BelalSaid]

The main reason small, indie developers chose to use Unity over Unreal was it's affordability. Take this out of the mix and unity losses a big chunk of what made it popular in first place among small developers. I think Unity will eventually change these pricing policies, especially with the developers strike and some of them are delisting their games from stores. Other game engines on the other hand are experiencing peak usage like, Godot. Other engines are developing AI tools that helps developers to easily port their games from Unity to another engine. So, Unity is having some heavy backlash and competition, which I don't think they thought about it. I don't think Unity will become obsolete or go bankrupt either ways, but this made many developers realise other underground gaming engines that might not be as good as Unity, but are still great alternatives.
Which in my opinion, is a good outcome. Competition brings improvements.

[Mikail2155]

@BelalSaid @muhmaed50913333 I wholeheartedly agree with your statements. If something like this goes through without much change, it will cause massive repercussions such as a mass exodus of devs. It would even set a precedent in the industry which would cause other game engine provider to stoop as low and start their own price plan as well.

[Sarkhan]

@Mikail2155 truly interesting thread, well done!

[Sarkhan]

@Mikail2155 truly interesting thread, well done!

[mia1]

I don't understand much in game development
But I don't think this is a stupid decision
Because of course developers will look for a cheaper engine