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Unity temporarily closes offices amid death threats following contentious pricing changes (www.engadget.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/technology

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[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I didn't realize they never "per install" quite so literally. That does make a big difference and it's a really weird way for them to charge.

Edit: Ok so according to another commenter your interpretation is common but wrong, and Unity clarified they mean the first install per customer only. So my position that this isn't a big deal stands.

[–] ObsidianBlk 5 points 1 year ago

Sorry, no. This is not accurate either. According to Unity's own FAQ regarding the subject... Which you can look at right here...

Do installs of the same game by the same user across multiple devices count as different installs? We treat different devices as different installs. We don’t want to track identity across different devices.

So, again, if I install the game on 3 different devices, Unity considers that 3 installs. If I build a new computer later, then reinstall the game there, it'll count as a new install. The scary thing is... what if someone hates you as a developer? They now only need to buy your game once, then setup a script to roll VMs and install your game on VMs (each VM counts as a seperate device), and you, as the developer, will be hit with the new install cost each time.

Additionally...

Does the Unity Runtime Fee apply to pirated copies of games? We are happy to work with any developer who has been the victim of piracy so that they are not unfairly hurt by unwanted installs.

The issue here is... the developer would already have been charged the fee for a "pirated" install, because, how is a developer supposed to even know their game was pirated in the first place. Here, the developer may already be financially hit for a pirated game and now has to spend time and resources with Unity to convince them that some percentage of installs are pirated installs. Earlier in their FAQ, Unity claims they do not have a "phone home" when a Unity game is run, so, how are they determining installs in the first place? "Aggregate data"... or, another words, "trust us".