Unity CEO John Riccitiello reportedly sold thousands of shares of stock in the weeks ahead of the fee announcement.

Unity Backpedals on Its Horrible Plan for Game Install Fees Amid Developer Backlash::Unity CEO John Riccitiello reportedly sold thousands of shares of stock in the weeks ahead of the fee announcement.

  • lol@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    161·
    1 year ago

    They did not actually “backpedal” just yet.

    We apologize for the confusion and angst the runtime fee policy we announced on Tuesday caused. We are listening, talking to our team members, community, customers, and partners, and will be making changes to the policy. We will share an update in a couple of days.

    This is a nonpology making no promises whatsoever.

    • kautau@lemmy.worldEnglish
      58·
      1 year ago

      Yeah lol “Publicy traded company releases vague PR message to appease investors” is the headline

      • NateNate60@lemmy.mlEnglish
        5·
        1 year ago

        I don’t think investors are idiots. They will look at whether the development community will accept whatever those changes end up being, or see whether Unity will just quietly let this thing die and pretend it never happened.

        It’s harder to be stupid when it’s your money on the line.

        • kautau@lemmy.worldEnglish
          5·
          1 year ago

          They aren’t, this PR message will do very little, but it’s still better than “going dark” after their announcements for now

        • pup_atlas@pawb.socialEnglish
          4·
          1 year ago

          The absolutely are, because it’s not a binary “try it and see if it works” change. This is a one-time, irreversible loss of brand trust from game developers who have a lot at stake, and a TON of options. There are no take backsies on stuff like this. Choosing a game engine for your game is a big decision, often researched and backed by some form of business team who are never gonna swing for a company with a track record of pulling out the financial rug from their customers. They will loose billions, if not outright kill their company by even suggesting this sort of thing with a straight face.

          • NateNate60@lemmy.mlEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            I’m confused by what you’re trying to do with this comment. What does “the[y] absolutely are” refer to?

            • pup_atlas@pawb.socialEnglish
              2·
              1 year ago

              In this case the “they” is referring to Unity. The value of Brand trust is one of the primary assets any company has, and this sort of behavior destroys that. Why would you invest tens millions of dollars in developing a game in an engine that could suddenly bankrupt a company in licensing fees, with little to no warning or transparency? It isn’t 2010 any more, and there are plenty of options for platforms.