210°

Unity reveals plans to charge per game install, drawing criticism from development community

"It's an absolute f*cking catastrophe".

Unity has announced dramatic changes to its Unity Engine business model which will see it introduce a monthly fee per new game install beginning on 1st January next year - a move that has drawn considerable criticism from the development community.

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eurogamer.net
Palitera262d ago (Edited 262d ago )

Also, according to Yahoo, last week "Unity Software Inc's President and CEO John Riccitiello Sells 2,000 Shares".
It continues: "The insider transaction history for Unity Software Inc shows a clear trend: over the past year, there have been 49 insider sells and no insider buys. This could be a red flag for potential investors, as it suggests that those with the most intimate knowledge of the company's operations and prospects are choosing to sell their shares."

* https://finance.yahoo.com/n...

italiangamer262d ago

Isn't this insider trading? Basically a financial crime?

Palitera262d ago

"It's only insider trading if poor people do it"

Snookies12262d ago (Edited 262d ago )

@Palitera - Yep, that's the world we live in. If you're rich and powerful, the law doesn't really apply to the wealthy the same way it does normal folk. Then there's the bond system. Any rich person that goes to jail, they just get to pay some pocket change and get to be let free thank to the bail bond system! It's so nice that if you have money, you can walk around free regardless of your crimes.

Angyobangyo261d ago

He's the same sleazeball who said this in a shareholders meeting years ago when he was EA CEO,

"When you are six hours into playing Battlefield and you run out of ammo in your clip and we ask you for a dollar to reload, you’re really not that price sensitive at that point in time,”

VersusDMC262d ago

There will be fees for installing game demos that let you buy the full game, early access and betas... Epic must be celebrating in anticipation of everyone moving to Unreal.

Palitera261d ago

Yes, I feel sorry for companies that have stabilized businesses and will have to TRY to shift focus.

For premium games, the fee is not that relevant, but for small, free mobile or free web games, this is a big strike.

The balance between revenue per user and user acquisition cost is usually very tight, and now it has been severely broken.

And if you think “screw F2P and small games”, remember these are the companies and devs that might make the indie gem you might love.

Chard262d ago

Hopefully this doesn't cause problems for Silksong

Sephiroushin262d ago

if i were them I just look a way to move it into another engine, this thing unity is doing is super abussive, if it doesnt cause problems it will do for us by them increasing the price, it was also coming to gamepass i believe, imagine if people download it multiple times 🤦🏻

Palitera261d ago

It’s all uncertain right now.

Unity said Microsoft would be charged in Game Pass games.

The thing is: the contracts usually have clauses that push extra costs forward to the devs.

So, if Unity keeps the policy, either MS accepts the hit alone or the costs will be forwarded to consumers or devs.

Vits262d ago

And that is why engine consolidation is the issue that it is. It allows the company that operates the very few commercial options available to do whatever they want and their consumer base can only shallow it.

Palitera261d ago

Yeah, but the alternatives aren’t even close. Hopefully this will put Unreal as lead for III, AA and above, and Cocos/Godot for smaller titles.

Vits261d ago

That is not hopeful at all. That is still engine consolidation, is just transferring the power from Unity to Epic and Godot. Sure the latter is open source and therefore much safer, but the issue remains especially with Epic and the Unreal engine, those guys already partake in some real shady stuff with their store. The last thing they need is more power over development.

Palitera261d ago

I agree, but, in the current state of game development, there aren't many options. It's not like we can choose to have a FOSS engine taking over right now.

Inverno261d ago

Corporate greed continues to evolve in unexpected ways. I was wondering how this will work if devs choose to move onto another engine and stop subscribing to Unity. Will they have to delist games to prevent new downloads? Will Unity prevent access to the games we purchased if the devs no longer want to pay them?

shinoff2183261d ago

Can they hamper access to games that could be technically called grandfathered in

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80°

Evercade Alpha Reveals Affordable Mini-Arcade

This looks fun and affordable for fans of Retro Cabinet games.
Introducing Evercade Alpha, the first Evercade-compatible arcade machine. This bartop-sized arcade gives you everything you want in a home arcade machine with one big feature - full compatibility with the Evercade cartridge ecosystem.

darthv721d 22h ago

I like the Mega Man one more as it has a better variety of games. Strider, Carrier Airwing, Final fight... The other is all SF. Plus i like that i can pop in any of my evercade carts to play as well.

Garethvk1d 21h ago

As long as it is durable; it's a deal.

300°

Sony Says The PS5 Is Its “Most Profitable Generation To-Date"

During Sony’s recent business segment meeting and investor presentation regarding its game and network services, the PlayStation company revealed that PlayStation 5 is the company’s “most profitable generation to-date.”

It’s the top slide of the presentation, showing that in its first four years, the PS5 generation has already hit $106 billion in sales, having almost caught up to the PS4’s total $107 billion generated.

Operating income for the PS5 generation has also already surpassed that of the PS4, having now reached $10 billion.

ApocalypseShadow2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I wouldn't doubt it. They released a high quality system. A lot of high quality games from themselves and their support of 3rd party developers and indies. They released many high quality remakes and remasters. They released a high quality GaaS game going against the naysayers thinking Sony would abandon single player games. And they most likely are profiting a lot more than PS1, PS2 PS4 and the loss leading PS3 that drained all their profits.

Now, I'll wait to see what's cooking tomorrow. But can you use some of those profits to better support your high quality VR headset? Because, by supporting it, you can sell more games and more systems and make more profits?

jznrpg2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I want RPGs for PSVR2! Good ones of course

shinoff21832d ago

If it had some rpgs I would buy right fking now. It looks dope and alot of fun, but it's biggest game resident evil 4(maybe) I've got no interest in. I'm not a fan of racing games, even with that metro game coming i was never much into that series. Rpgs would be fantastic.

MrNinosan2d ago

Lemme know if ya wanna play some Zenith 🙌
Bought it at release, but haven't played it more than 1-2 hours but for sure on my "todo list".

Cacabunga2d ago

Normal when they released mostly cross gen games so far. That’s a lot of money saved..
We haven’t seen what PS5 can do yet. 4years in and PS4 games still look great to me. The gen leap isn’t quite there yet.

--Onilink--2d ago

The interesting metric for me is the $106billion in operating income/profit (not sales as mentioned in the article) reaching the same as the PS4 did with only half the consoles sold.

In particular because they all are supposed to be making the most per hardware sold after a few years when manufacturing costs are down.

So even putting inflation aside(and the higher console price), it is interesting that they could reach PS4 $ with just half the consoles sold.

Maybe there is more to the metric thats whats seen at face value, but they have clearly been making a lot more money than before on the software side (with also less games released I suppose, given its only been half the generation so far)

VersusDMC2d ago

The bulk of the money has to be coming from the 30% cut on all games and microtransactions. Especially on all the free to play juggernauts like genshin, apex, fortnight, etc.

--Onilink--2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

@Versus

They are definitely making a lot on that for sure (which the $70 price increase factors into as well), but its not like many of those games werent around for the PS4 too.

They might be counting the gen as a whole and not just PS5 itself (so extra profit from PC sales, whatever that may be)

PS+ price increase and different tiers probably amount to part of that too.

But in general, its still quite a surprising metric. Half the time, half the consoles sold, less first party games released so far and still already making more of a profit than last gen is quite something, and as mentioned, there is probably more to it that we dont know, after all, since we are talking about operating income, all the expenses they have also factor into it, so it is also possible that they have found ways to significantly reduce that + all the means of increased revenue that appear to be factoring into the equation

All in all, just an interesting situation from a business perspective

porkChop2d ago

It's for the whole generation, so it would likely be including PC. They also make much more profit on digital sales vs retail, and digital is far more prominent these days. The generation also started at the height of COVID when everyone was home, spending far more money on gaming/hobbies. It makes a lot of sense for this gen to be more profitable.

Abnor_Mal2d ago

This will surely shut up all the new trolling accounts trying to spread lies and non facts in other articles comment sections before this article is posted.

Hofstaderman2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Obscurely, those trolls or troll will not show in these articles as the truth is contradictory to his or their orchard-sized daily dose of copium and hopium.

Tacoboto2d ago

Or... They're intentionally trolling you guys specifically. Because they know it upsets you so easily.

Name-dropping Orchard, after this many months? How long has it been and he's still in your thoughts?

Elda2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I'm quite sure the individual is reading these positive comments downvoting & seething at the same time. Edit: It just downvoted my comment...lol!!

Hofstaderman2d ago

No I'm entertained by this individual. I love unhinged people, they are so interesting lol.

repsahj2d ago

Wow! I am super impressed that in just 4 years, ps5 already caught up to the PS4's. Congratulations.

JackBNimble1d 15h ago

That happens when half of your games are cross platform. I'm still waiting to see what the ps5 is capable of, because they sure haven't pushed any limits.

And where are all these ps5 exclusive games?

sagapo2d ago

Not really surprised as Sony barely has any competition at the moment.

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80°

Zotac To Reveal Their Portable Gaming PC At COMPUTEX 2024

This sounds like a very interesting mobile gaming PC. ZOTAC returns to COMPUTEX 2024 to showcase its biggest push yet into brand-new product categories from Handheld Gaming.

smashman982d ago

My last 2 gpus have both been zotac. No issues. I'm interested.

Garethvk2d ago

It will be interesting to see what they have to offer