The fact that these decisions are coming down from the ex-CEO of EA Games, who was the CEO when EA was voted “Worst Company in the World”, just makes all this even more entertaining to watch.
GamePass and probably most cheap sales are all going up in flames because Unity has hired a demon to lead them into oblivion.
The fact that these decisions are coming down from the ex-CEO of EA Games . . . .
This guy speedrunning the enshittification game. Oceangate needs to build another sub, stat.
Microsoft learned never to leave an EA exec at the wheel ten years earlier, with the disastrous launch of the Xbox One. You know, the all seeing, all knowing, all credit card charging privacy invader with its hooks permanently sunk into the internet, and a camera you couldn't cover, like it was some motherfucking episode of Max Headroom. Allow me to say, "Fuck you, Don Mattrick, and the DRM and surveillance-laden horse you rode in on."
Right. Here's how it works: Your game is on Gamepass, and a user installs it. Now instead of Microsoft paying you $0.15, then you paying Unity $0.10, Microsoft will just pay us directly the $0.10, and you still get your $0.05! See, it's a great deal! Everybody gets their money and you don't even have to deal with the Unity costs! Please, don't go!!
Nintendo is gonna lawyer up at the speed of God before they'd pay unity a fucking cent.
You're assuming Nintendo ever lawyers down
I'm sorry, but I'd be more terrified of Microsoft. A company worth more than nations, (current market cap puts it about the 10th richest country in the world), and who routinely tells other companies to pony up - and they do (look up a software audit if you want to see a corporate shakedown).
Sorry to nitpick, but I see the comparison of a company market cap with country GDP a lot and it's a pet peeve of mine lol. Market cap is the value of the company, while GDP is equivalent to the total "revenue" that a country's economy generated that year. So a better comparison would be 2022 Microsoft revenue vs 2022 GDP of a country.
Will they tho?
It’s unclear if Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are aware of this particular change in policy, and whether they’d be willing to comply with Unity Technologies.
Going into a legal dick measuring match with 3 of the most hardcore litigious corps in the tech world.
Sounds smart.
Nintendoss lawyers right now:
If they aren't already paying royalties to Unity on behalf of the devs, then I can almost guarantee they won't be paying royalties in the future. If they are doing that, then the devs might want to double check their revenue, because that may mean that Unity's been double-dipping on royalties (taking royalties from distribution through Sony, MS and Nintendo, and then taking them again directly from the devs).
It’s like when CDPR said everyone could get refunds for CP2077 without talking to the stores first, then were shocked when Sony removed it from the PlayStation Store.
Yep, although at least that was a pro-consumer move on CDPR's part. It's very understandable why Sony wasn't happy about it, but it wasn't a shady move on CDPR's part. Whereas the same definitely can't be said for Unity right now.
Yeah, because Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are companies who would never pass those costs back to the devs or down onto consumers. They'd totally bite the bullet on Unity's new royalty...
Unity are out of their minds if they think this is at all a good move. All they're going to do by pushing devs away and pissing off the major distributors is inspire the creation/adoption of a competitor.
That’s what happens when your CEO is an ex EA exec who thought that charging battlefield players a dollar to reload their gun was a good idea
And Mexico was going to pay for that southern boarder wall...
Nintendo? Like fuck they will
Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft Lawyers united... that's an enemy you don't want to fight. Each department alone is scary enough. All three of them? Now, that's something you want to be on very solid ground for.
You can just see the panic coming out of Unity.
They thought they’d be able to slip this change through and people would just pay it. They were expecting a big payday, not a storm of bad press and angry people.
No they won't! There's no way any of the big console manufacturers will ever agree to those terms, ESPECIALLY Nintendo. Microsoft would just buy Unity out before paying that ransom. You be smokin' some bigtime crack, Riccitello.
Microsoft would just buy Unity out before paying that ransom
Maybe that's the plan lol
By the definition of “distributor” this would include Steam, GOG, Epic, etc. as well.
In before one of them starts stripping or firewalling the phone-home code. What's Unity gonna do? Valve hasn't signed any contracts with them!
I don't want another attack vector for some hacker on my computer. That phone home code will be the second coming of the Sony rootkit.
Apple has Unity games in Apple Arcade I’m sure; which is like “iCloud GamePass”. So add another behemoth with almost more lawyers than money.
I wonder how they’d enforce that exactly since none of those companies are likely to have a contract with Unity that says they’d pay anything like that. Their distribution contracts are with the studios… and the studios, if they keep their subscriptions would be the ones contracted with Unity. Good luck telling MS or Sony that your little indie company bound them into a contract with your engine vendor.
I wonder if it's purposeful sabotage at this point. You can't be that stupid and still be paid millions of dollars to do your job can you?
Capitalism is truly amazing if it can happen.
Good luck doing that too Nintendo. They're professional dicks
Fastest way to have all traces of your engine scrubbed from realty.
Because picking a fight with some of the world's biggest companies is the best form of damage control...
Oh, so is this the result of some negotiation with them, or are they just saying random shit again?
Meanwhile, Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony:
Listen peasants, if you don't like the freeholder fees we charge, then surely Lord Microsoft will shelter you on his lands as a serf, and pay your fees on your behalf.
Actually...consumers end up paying for it. Companies will just increase prices as when the Government taxes them.
Companies will just increase prices whenever they can get away with it
Fixed that for ya.
Also valid. Yeah
No, they won't. Unity has an agreement with the devs not the platform holders
all that will happen is that unity games won't appear on subscription services
So this is why we go ps plus and xbox game pass prices go up :D xd
People keep telling me that PC gaming is expensive and yet I pay no subscription fees and have plenty of choice for which storefront to purchase from so game prices tend to stay low outside a few exceptions.
Mares eat oats and does eat oats.
Ya gotta love when a corp realizes they’ve stepped in it and starts trying to create an escape route. I’m more than a little surprised that Unity’s board of directors haven’t taken the CEO’s head on a platter yet.
Aren't there enough FOSS gamw engines out in the wild to keep indie authors and small companies working without concern for this kind of crap?
Contributing with a cash amount to have work done on any engine would be cheaper and more useful for all parts involved than having to deal with these vampires.
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