610°

Unity Will Charge Sony, Microsoft, Apple, and Netflix Runtime Fees

Unity Technologies says it will charge Microsoft, Sony, Apple, and Netflix for Unity Engine games included in their subscription services.

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gamerevolution.com
IMissJimRyan223d ago

It's easy to blame Unity and being a cool gamer on internet by saying they are doing the wrong thing. But when Unity started its business model, they innovate allowing people to develop and publish their games for free, without paying for the engine only if the developer starts to making money. I know myself at least five people that started game development because Unity allow them to.

However, the game subscription model came and change all the business landscape for game publishing. Now, selling your game is one of the ways to monetize, not the only one anymore. Unity is not an engine focused on big triple A games. Most developers are small and indie ones. They are the ones most likely to sold their games to subscription services.

What Unity should do? Keep bleeding money on business model made for a landscape that doesn't exist anymore? Ask for a ludicrous price and sell their engine alienating small developers and students? Or ask for those giants selling games and getting a 30% cut or paying little money for games of their subscription?

For me the answer is easy. But to be cool with gamerz we always need to simplistic and made everything a game about good guys and bad guys.

victorMaje223d ago

I have a game made in Unity that I’m removing from the app store by Jan 1, because me paying a fee to Unity every time someone installs my game is just not sustainable.
I read there’s even the concern if someone repeatedly abuses that mechanic & installs-reinstalls the game causing a large amount to have to be paid to Unity. Apparently Unity has no answer to that, wow!

I have another game on the app store made in Godot & guess what, I gladly pay to Godot on Patreon because of all the good the engine has to offer, for free, & using the engine is a breath of fresh air, i.e: by the time I launch Godot try some changes, compile & run, Unity hasn’t launched yet!

Unity had the opportunity over the years to do good by developers but every decision they made was stupider than the previous one, it got them exodus after exodus. Look at the number of devs leaving & going for other game engines.

Do you have any idea how destabilizing this last decision is when it comes to an indie-dev that has a game they’re trying to launch or run.

What about Unreal Engine? Why don’t they implement such anti-dev practices? & guess what Unity is as heavy to launch as UE, but UE is way more professional & in terms of the available toolset & what you can do with it.

It’s almost like Unity are doing it on purpose so they can short their stock in some crazy insider trading scheme.

But I guess I’m one of the cool gamerz.

shadowknight203223d ago (Edited 223d ago )

Loco and Victor you both make valid points and are correct. Unity paying for runtime for specific streaming services should be something they can do, after all that's them charging big streaming services as the facts pointed out by Loco.

And Victor is correct in that they shouldn't charge per download if it's a free game anyway, or if the subscriber or purchaser is downloading the title for a second time after purchase. It should be if its free to play, then IAP percentage should go to Unity in some form. Or if it's pay to own, then the initial purchase should go to them as a percentage.

Sephiroushin223d ago (Edited 223d ago )

Why are you defending a guy that wanted to charge 1$ for reloading guns on a videogame (battlefield)... this guy greediness is just play evil at this point it doesnt even has to do with Unity bleeding, this CEO is just awful and should be thrown out, while youre correct on some things, charging for download is super evil, trolls who are mad for w/e reason at a dev using unity could just make a script for redownloading a game making a small dev go bankrupt.

theindiearmy223d ago

Maybe they should slightly increase the licensing prices of using the engine instead of tacking on a whole new fee that starts an entirely new pricing model. 🤷‍♂️

sadraiden223d ago (Edited 223d ago )

Literally the worst take on this issue I've seen yet. Take the boot out of your throat. You're advocating the destruction of indie devs/publishers because you think that Unity deserves to employ a more predatory business model.

MrBaskerville223d ago (Edited 223d ago )

@VictorMaje
But don't you have to have a million installs anf earnings over 200.000$ before the payments trigger?

Thought the issue was one of trust for the most part. That thet retroactively changed their tos without warning. And that they made an overly complicated system that makes it hard to predict your costs.

Palitera223d ago

@Mr

Yes, that’s one of the main concerns remaining.

Still, economically, they’re almost killing one of the biggest gaming markets (F2P), because the usual margin is not enough to put another 20 cents in (or a very expensive top version, for discounts). You might hate F2P, but the market is huge and important for the growth of companies and professionals.

Also their system to accurately counting installs and avoid counting pirate installs is a full black box, which some sources even claim do not really exist how they are saying it does. Recently they also admitted “two machines = two installs”, so yes, a script kid can generate thousands in fees very quickly for anyone.

In the first and second statements, they were still holding the even worse “reinstall” fee and the webgl fee, which they waived later.

But yes, the damage is done. Unity became open to investors in 2020 and went downhill from there. The trust is completely gone and most of us (dev here) think that, even if they backtrack even more, another backstab is due at any time.

Unity is seen now as a liability for companies.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 223d ago
Profchaos223d ago (Edited 223d ago )

Yeah when Unitys own ceo sells his shares prior to the announcement questions should be asked

https://gamerant.com/unity-...

This smells of insider trading to me but what do I know I'm just a cool gamer on the international apparently.

jznrpg223d ago

2000 shares out of 3.2 million doesn’t make much of case.

--Onilink--223d ago

By regulation, they have to sell shares every now and then (though its always possible they can time certain actions based on when their next batch sale is happening)

Based on the actual % of shares sold by him and some other people, this seems the more likely scenario and the sites reporting it were just looking for clicks by making a more sensationalist story. The CEO for example sold like 0.06% of his shares….

That said, everything else happening is pretty scummy from Unity and I would expect to see some major legal action from Nintendo, Sony, etc

jznrpg223d ago

@Onilink I agree what they are doing is pure shite but the insider trading thing is flimsy as hell.

babadivad223d ago

They are trying SO hard to be the next Flash.

crazyCoconuts224d ago

Ultimately this will all get absorbed by the price we pay as consumers in subscription fees.
Sucks for everyone but Unity.

Sciurus_vulgaris224d ago

Apple, Netflix, Sony and Microsoft are way larger than Unity. They could all likely drop Unity titles from their subscription services without heavy negative impacts.

BrainSyphoned224d ago

And can as easily pass the cost on to us without heavy negative impacts. People complain and stocks drop temporarily until the credit card recurring charge shows up and life goes on as before.

0odama223d ago

Maybe this is part of the reason why there was a price hike that Sony and Microsoft just did to their subscription services.

Zeref224d ago

Lol developers are ditching Unity for their future project. Unity needs developers more than developers need Unity.

crazyCoconuts223d ago

I wonder if the alternatives are any good

Pedantic91223d ago

@crazyCoconuts

My hope is that the devs would rather learn to adapt to a new engine than allow themselves to continue being screwed over by Unity. I do wish the devs affected by this land on their feet but at the same time i would like to see Unity crash and burn for doing this.

Palitera222d ago (Edited 222d ago )

@crazyCoconuts

They are good and will get much better now, and I think much much better things will come out of this in the close future. I'm betting on Godot, which is what the community is heavily leaning to.

The thing is... Unity was a jack of all trades. Unreal is worthless for mobile, for instance.

For small games, Godot, Cocos, Defold, Construct, GameMaker etc.
For medium games, Godot, CocosCreator.
For big games, mostly Unreal.

HollowIchigo25224d ago

even indie devs can drop Unity
Sony/MS/Apple are probably laughing at Unity

JackBNimble223d ago

This will crush indie dev's , which is why you're going to see developers abandon unity .

Becuzisaid223d ago

Ps plus gets hooked up by $20 out of nowhere with zero explanation or extra benefit to us. Coincidence?

crazyCoconuts222d ago (Edited 222d ago )

Based on my own spending patterns I'm guessing they were losing a lot of potential sales based on the overly generous/ too cheap plans they had. That was probably reason enough imo

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 222d ago
FalcorMononoke224d ago

What's to stop these companies from barring games developed in Unity to their platforms? If I were them, I would do it in a heartbeat.

Zeref224d ago (Edited 224d ago )

They wouldn't want to remove games like Genshin Impact they're likely going to sue first

dumahim223d ago

The cut of profit they make from Genshin would easily cover any install fees they're on the hook for. Many other games without that monetization built in, not so much.

224d ago
S2Killinit224d ago

Subscription prices were always going to go up. Just like all other subscriptions in history of subscriptions.

Show all comments (68)
290°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.

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theverge.com
darthv721d 16h ago

Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.

solideagle1d 3h ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Sonic18811d ago

I thought darthv72 and Obscure_Observer already work for Microsoft 🤔

dveio1d ago

MS: "Xbox services and content without AB up 1%, with AB up 62%. Hardware down 31%. In total a loss of 350 mill."

darthv72: "Seems about right."

MS: "Excuse m ..."

darthv72: "I don't hardly play on my consoles directly."

MS:

Lightning7719h ago

What he said was facts. How he plays games is no concern of you. Don't get too mad about it.

Cacabunga1d 3h ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

darthv7213h ago

to you it may seem like the minority... but your bubble is shrinking because more and more are following suit. convenience is a hell of a drug and its also why physical sales only amount to 30% of overall game sales. times are changing, you either get with them or you get left behind.

neutralgamer19928h ago

Darth

30% physical sales: yet Phil and xbox division are in a rush go give up on that 30%. they don't have any right to give up any piece of the pie since the control such a little of the pie to begin with

also, the market is clearly speaking that the model Xbox is pushing isn't working right now the keyword being right now. you are right about freedom to play anywhere so i hope they put their games on steam

shinoff21831d 2h ago

But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.

Cacabunga1d 1h ago

Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.

If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.

Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you

itsmebryan20h ago

@shin
Well keep it simple Sony 's operating income is down 26% and Microsoft's is up 32%. No MS spin there, just facts. 😉
Cheers

S2Killinit13h ago

MS is after diminishing consoles as a medium. They want to destroy this market because they couldnt win. MS’s vision is to dissolve console gaming.

romulus2319h ago

Odd that a company that touts you dont need the hardware to play is already touting another console in the works.

darthv7219h ago

They are not reliant on the HW but still want to maintain a presence (no matter how small) is a good thing. It shows commitment to the craft. It reminds me of SNK and how they made games for their own hardware (Neo Geo) while also making them for others because they knew there was a market to do so. They knew they would sell more to others but also sell to their own niche fan base.

TheEroica13h ago(Edited 13h ago)

Perfectly reasonable post down voted by insecure corporation friendly folk.... But not gamers. Real gamer want accessibility and ease of acquisition for all.... Company shills are the only ones still telling us that hardware locking people from games is good for us.

Chevalier8h ago

@Darth

You should stop parroting metrics like an idiot without context.

"Xbox content and services revenue grew 62% in Q3 from a year earlier, “driven by 61 points of net impact” from the purchase of the third-party video game giant, Microsoft said."

61 of the 62% was from their merger so net increase is ONLY 1%

https://www.mesaonline.org/...

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 8h ago
purple1011d 5h ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos1d 5h ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

DOMination-19h ago

In the last two years they've started exiting the consumer market altogether. All of the newest Surface products are business models only. They can't seem to work out what they want to do with it.

XBManiac1d 4h ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad1d 4h ago (Edited 1d 4h ago )

"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."

That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.

purple1011d 4h ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos1d 3h ago (Edited 1d 3h ago )

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

Kornholic1d 2h ago

So basically PS and PC gamers' money is keeping Xbox on life support.

MrDead19h ago

The only growth MS will get out of the console industry is if it supports it's rivals platforms. Xbox is a pointless machine now. I can see them on a big push for live next, and they won't give up on trying to buy Steam.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 19h ago
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80°

Razer Kishi Ultra Review - Remote Play and Mobile Gaming Goes XL

PSLS writes: I have traveled across the country using the Razer Kishi Ultra in airports and hotels for both PlayStation Remote Play and mobile gaming in general, and I am thoroughly impressed.

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playstationlifestyle.net
150°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

Profchaos2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers2d ago

Agreed. Blizzard recently banned a college Overwatch 2 player who's dependent for saying "shit." Pretty harsh.

Profchaos1d 10h ago (Edited 1d 10h ago )

How rediculas really. You can't say a word that's allowed in most PG films and prime time TV but the game is based around killing the enemy team using guns, explosives etc.

It's just backwards.

just_looken1d 12h ago

What your talking about is called block list

In 2006 a spaceship dropped of the playstation 3/xbox 360 i say that that generation was the last great gen with game functions/tech that has yet to comeback

Anyhow the playstation 3 if you block listed a id they could not talk to you in chatroom with either text or voice. But that was pre mind fucked 2018 when people were more human than sheep.

But hey gta 6 is coming out billion dollar budget without a single player custom character creator and without singeplayer coop off/online something saints row 1-3 had on the xbox 360.

z2g1d 22h ago

Take my social security and bank account numbers too! Here’s a picture of my wife and our address.

phoenixwing1d 21h ago

Cmon where's the pictures of your children. Don't hold out on them.

H91d 22h ago

At this rate I feel Sony will eventually sell a room to play games in it where they can monitor your every breath

jambola1d 18h ago

I genuinely get a bit worried sometimes when a friend says something that could be offensive In a party
Because I have no trouble believing some bans would happen when in a private party for saying something wrong

SegaSaturn6691d 20h ago

I want them to censor erotic content by measuring my groin temperature so i dont get too distracted while playing black ops 2.

Popsicle1d 20h ago

Terrible idea. Not only do I not consent to providing my biometric data, the potential for mishandling biometric data is almost a certainty. Positive stress and negative stress can produce similar changes in biometrics. Interpreting the precise emotion a person is feeling is not only invasive but could be easily misconstrued. I hope this never comes to fruition.

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