this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
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Anyone who still uses Unity for their new projects after this would have to be completely stupid. Of course they'll jack up the pricing again as soon as they can.
It wasn't that they increased prices, they added new fees to things without notice, breaking some business models entirely.
They've only backed down on fees for reinstalling games after it was pointed out you could trivially cost a developer millions of dollars by running an install/uninstall script on a loop.
Some groups have invested a lot of time and money into a product based on Unity.
Let me introduce you to the concept of sunk cost.
In economics and business decision-making, a sunk cost (also known as retrospective cost) is a cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered.
The money already spent cannot be gotten back. Spending more continuing to develop using Unity instead of cutting your losses and moving on is a fools game.
I'm generally a bit weary of the sunk cost fallacy being absolute.
I think, in most cases it will be though. Furthermore, I think a developer needs to do a cost analysis to know for sure. They should include the consideration that if Unity get away with this AND it makes them more money, they will gouge for more.
For any new developer, this has to be a huge red flag.
Many of these groups are small indie companies or single individuals, with limited money. This is more an all in scenario then sunk cost.
I am not saying it is an easy or pleasant decision.
And they are the people who will be least able to afford this price increase or the next or the next.
It sucks but that is the reality.
Cut your losses and move on.
If I were a single indie dev with a game that was 90% complete in Unity, I think it would be fair to myself to say "well, this will be the LAST game I build in Unity".
It would be important to see if the changes would bankrupt you and also consider the possibility that the pricing gets even worse on a moment's notice as they have already proven they will screw you over. Finishing the game could be worse than starting from scratch if they pull this shit again.
A lot of developers have really tight profit margins and/or their current projects heavily rely on what Unity provides. "Cutting their losses and move on" would mean bankruptcy. They might be able to switch to other engines in the future but right now leaving Unity behind is not a valid decision for them.
I spent 15 years working in the bankruptcy and insolvency industry. I have seen this sort of situation literally 100s of times.
Staying with Unity will just mean going broke over a longer time frame and after wasting more money.
And I work as a software developer. You can't just suddenly leave the software behind your business is based on. For a lot of VR or WebGL related Companies there is no alternative to Unity. Also they are not broke right now and most likely won't be next year because of Unitys policy changes. Most devs won't be affected at all. Why just give up your hole business now because there might be problems in the future? Staying with Unity now gives us time to change the business model or find another technology.
cool. I am a sysadmin, who has a lot of experience with developers.
Stay with them and good luck.
Pm me when you need a bankruptcy firm recommendation.