The announcement of Unity charging installation fees has sparked a lot of discussions since September 12th, and my thoughts have also changed to some extent.
Getting Started#
I agree with the charging for the following reasons:
- Game developers use Unity's services and make profits from them, so they should pay the corresponding fees.
- Charging has a certain threshold, which seems quite high to me?
Understanding#
I found that there are significantly more opposing opinions than supporting or neutral ones, so I decided to understand it myself.
From Unity's official website, I learned that:
- Unity already has related charges, such as Unity Plus, Unity Pro, and so on.
- The new charges are based on new installs per month, which I think is unreasonable.
- How do you know how many times users have installed it?
- How do you ensure that someone maliciously installs it, causing unnecessary losses for developers?
Game Developers#
Unity's charging standards are different for individuals and enterprises, and they are quite significant. For individuals, it is $0.2 per new install, while for enterprises, it can be as low as $0.01. So I also investigated separately.
Companies with a Certain Scale#
Here are some excerpts from Unity can get fucked, written by the creator of Garry's Mod.
Let me be clear.. the cost isn't a big issue to us. If everything worked out, the tracking was flawless and it was 10p per sale, no biggy really. If that's what it costs, then that's what it costs.
This cost is affordable for them, and it seems to be no big deal.
It hurts because we didn't agree to this. We used the engine because you pay up front and then ship your product. We weren't told this was going to happen. We weren't warned. We weren't consulted.
We have spent 10 years making Rust on Unity's engine. We've paid them every year. And now they changed the rules.
Pointing out the anger: changing the terms without prior notice or consultation
We had 10 years to make our own engine and never did. I'm sure a lot of game companies are feeling the same today.
Regretting not making their own engine
Individual Developers#
In Unity Ruined Their Game Engine Forever, an example is given:
Some indie game developers have created small games with millions of downloads, but the revenue from the game's advertising system or paid content cannot cover the installation fees they need to pay. This can lead to a ridiculous situation: going bankrupt because the game is popular.
Extension#
In Unity Ruined Their Game Engine Forever, there is also a line that I really like: "the beauty of Open Source is it's not run by one scumbag company that can absolutely decide to bring this any time day in shape you can just download this engine and start working on your project."
This reminds me of GNU and the Free Software Movement. It's so wonderful and visionary.
My Takeaway#
I am not a game developer, just a gamer, a student who has not truly entered society.
So when I first heard about this, I didn't think or understand too much. I made a judgment based solely on my own judgment and even took a stance.
But as I delved deeper into understanding, my thoughts underwent a reversal. I think many things are like this.
So the biggest takeaway from this incident for me is: I cannot make conclusions without understanding something first.