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Unity backtracks slightly on plans to charge developers for game installs
(www.eurogamer.net)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Yeah this feels like Wizard of the Coast's first response to the OGL drama. Make some changes that are technically better than the first terrible system, but is ultimately still completely unacceptable. WotC eventually had to walk back everything, we'll see if Unity does the same.
I mean, they have to.
But honestly at this point that's not even enough. You know they tried, you know whatever need for cash they were trying to fulfill remains. It's one thing to let that go when buying a piece of software that you just... have, but building an entire business on top of this middleware and knowing you have a business relationship with them indefinitely as a result?
At this point it's a dealbreaker. You can't trust them again. If I start a new dev studio tomorrow Unity would not even be in the running to start choosing an engine. They made themselves into a liability overnight. It's stunning. I don't know what the hell they're putting in the filtered, flavored water they sell to executives, but this year has been an endless chain of self-immolation I had never witnessed before.
Not to mention the OGL stuff was only a risk to 3PP as a lawsuit of WoTC decided to act on it. This debacle is a direct attack on the bottom lines of games publishers that will kill independent development and seriously hamper even AAA companies. I know I'm not going to waste my time learning it.