Mobile marketing and monetization platform AppLovin has launched a new project to help Unity developers switch to other engines like Unreal and Godot. It can already speed up code translation, and tools for asset and plugin migration are also in the works.
Re-Logic, an indie studio behind evergreen sandbox hit game Terraria, has commented on Unity’s controversial decision to introduce per-install fees. The team not only condemned this move, but also decided to support two open source engines.
Over the past week, there have been many developers who have decided to abandon the Unity engine and switch to other platforms. To help them, AppLovin has released Unifree, a tool that allows you to transfer the code of games written for Unity to the Unreal Engine, Godot and Cocos engines.
Re-Logic studio, which developed the game Terraria, supported the creators of the open engines Godot and FNA. She announced that she had donated $100,000 to each team.
The new Unity collection is called Runtime Fee. It got its name in honor of the Unity Runtime library set. The company believes that since libraries are installed on users’ devices along with the game, the developer must pay for it. We talked about Unity Runtime with Kirill Shabordin, the founder of Yerevan Cowboys Games, and Alexey Pechenin, the founder of Infinite Art Solutions.
Unity is now in the process of overhauling its controversial Runtime Fee, which caused a revolt in the game development community. Here are the first details about the possible changes.
On September 18, Unity shares fell 7.92% to $33.45 apiece. For the company, this is the biggest* daily drop in September.
At the Unity Software general meeting, which took place on Monday, it was announced to employees that the company would abandon the main provisions of the new monetization policy, which was announced last Wednesday.
Unity has responded to backlash over its new Runtime Fee. The company claims it will be making changes to the policy, but developers still want per-install fees to be reverted.
Unity reacted to the massive outrage of developers with the new pricing policy. She said she hears criticism and apologized for the “confusion and anxiety” that arose after the announcement.
In the wake of recent changes to Unity’s pricing policy, several game developers have decided to completely turn off Unity Ads and ironSource monetization across all of their titles. Companies like Azur Games and Voodoo are calling for per-install fees to be canceled, urging their colleagues to join the protest.
Against the background of changes in Unity’s pricing policy, a number of gaming companies have decided to disable the monetization of Unity Ads and ironSource in all their games. They demand to cancel the new installation fee. Among the signatories of the appeal are Azur Games, Voodoo and many others.
Nekki has abandoned the Unity engine. Its founder Dmitry Terekhin wrote on LinkedIn that the Spine action already in development will now be made on Unreal Engine.
Unity’s new per-install fees will apply even to older games released before the pricing changes. It also appears that earlier this year, the company also retroactively removed one clause from its terms of service.
The media reported that those gaming companies that will start using the Unity LevelPlay Mediation advertising platform will not have to pay a fee from each download.
On Reddit, we noticed that over the past year and a half, Unity has greatly changed the approach to working with the engine license. A user under the nickname Darkfrost wrote a post in which he talked about noticeable changes.
After the change in Unity monetization, many developers announced plans to move to another platform. Godot project manager Remi Verschelde, amid increased interest in the engine, warned that such a decision should not be hasty.
On September 12, the Godot open engine team officially announced the launch of the Godot Development Fund. She will collect donations through him for the development of the engine.
More developers are beginning to openly express their concerns about Unity’s new pricing policy. Here is how per-install fees could affect mobile game studios, according to developer Nekki.
Many developers have spoken sharply about Unity’s new pricing policy. One of them was Dmitry Terekhin, the founder of Nekki.
The announcement of the Unity Runtime Fee has caught many developers off guard. Here is what the professional community has to say about the company’s decision to charge extra fees based on game installs, as well as the lack of a clear explanation and rationale for the new pricing model.
The sources of the AppMetrica analytical service appeared on GitHub. Yandex has published the code under the MIT license, which allows you to use the service in projects without restrictions. Developers only need to specify the license text in their project.
More than 8 thousand developers have applied to participate in the beta test of the Russian Nau Engine. It was possible to achieve such a figure in three months: the collection of applications was opened in June.
Unity has announced a new pricing policy. Starting next year, if a number of conditions are met, the company will charge for each installation. Important: the installation will also be considered a reinstall (maybe it won’t be considered).
Unity has announced an update to its pricing policy, Here is a breakdown of all the changes, including the biggest one — the so-called “Runtime Fee” charged for every install after a game crosses certain thresholds.
A new version of the Unreal Engine — Unreal Engine 5.3 — has become available for download. It has improved the rendering, animation and modeling systems.
Square Enix has announced that the games of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series have sold a total of over 3 million copies.
On January 1, 2024, the age limit for IT specialists to receive a deferral from conscription will rise from 27 to 30 years. The corresponding order was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Tim Sweeney is not against the Epic Games Store (EGS) releasing games created with the help of artificial intelligence. This was stated by the head of Epic Games in a comment to the developer’s tweet, who complained about the Steam rules.
The Defold Foundation has officially updated the Defold engine to version 1.5.
On September 1, the crowdfunding campaign of Ratatan, a new rhythm action from the creators of Patapon, ended on Kickstarter. During the month, the developers attracted ¥219 million ($1.5 million) from gamers.
On August 30, Sony announced that it would raise the cost of an annual PlayStation Plus subscription by a third in September. Investors took this decision well: at Friday’s trading, the company’s stock price rose by 3.4%.
Dmitry Chernyshenko held a digital lesson in Kazan as part of the marathon “Share your knowledge”. At it, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation called video games a powerful tool of influence and pointed out that they often substitute historical facts, as well as propagandize violence.
Royal Match is confidently moving towards becoming one of the most successful mobile games in the match-3 genre. Last month, for the first time, she collected more revenue and downloads than the hit Candy Crush Saga.
The other day, several former employees of Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) reported that the authors of Star Citizen are conducting mass layoffs. A studio representative in a media commentary called their statements a lie.
The list of gaming companies that have stopped working is getting longer. Polish Black Eye Games has announced plans to close the studio in the coming months.
Gearbox Publishing is another company in the Embracer Group, which suffered from the restructuring of the holding. As the Game Developer portal noted, some of its employees have recently been reduced.
On the night of September 1, Starfield became available to owners of the premium edition of the game. She turned out to be extremely popular. Two hours after the opening of early access, more than 234 thousand Steam users were playing the Bethesda novelty at the same time.
Volition Studio, which celebrated its thirtieth anniversary two months ago, is closing.
Yandex continues to develop the AppMetrica service. It has added tools for conducting A/B testing, as well as for making changes to the application without releasing its new version.
Indian gamers will soon be able to download Free Fire again. Garena announced that on September 5 it will release a new version of the game in the country with a number of special changes.
CD Projekt has released its financial report for the first half of 2023 ended June 30. Despite a decrease in revenue and net profit, the company remains optimistic due to the upcoming release of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and the progress on the next Witcher game.
Publisher Atlus and studio Vanillaware have announced that 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim has been bought more than a million times. This figure takes into account both physical shipments and digital sales.
Yesterday, former employees of Blackbird Interactive reported on social networks about mass layoffs. Shortly after that, studio representatives confirmed in a media commentary that they had indeed reduced the staff.
The company SMP ESports, owned by Boris Rotenberg, decided to develop its own games in the genre of sports simulators. Football and hockey simulators will be the first.
Marvel Snap has become a hit for the studio Second Dinner and publisher Nuverse. According to the AppMagic analytical service, the mobile version of the game has earned $100.89 million since its release in October 2022.
Ray Roocroft, who worked for seven years at Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) on the Star Citizen game, spoke on Reddit about the situation inside the studio. According to him, the management pays too much attention to the design of offices and spends too much money on it.
In 2023, gamers from all over the world will spend about $ 194 billion on video games, analysts predict data.ai and IDC. Of this amount, $108 billion will be spent on games for mobile devices.
In Blackbird Interactive, large-scale layoffs took place: more than 40 people were fired from the studio. The incident is reported by employees who are out of work.
Analytical company Newzoo has released a report on Diablo IV. According to him, last month Blizzard title topped the box office top games for consoles and PCs in the American and British markets.
