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Unity got played so hard by Improbable, I feel sorry for them:
* Improbable has an obscene amount of money[1]. They don't need Unity.
* Improbable (in the long term) threatens Unity's revenue as a competitor[2].
1: crunchbase.com/organization/i…
2: unity.com/solutions/real…
* Improbable has an obscene amount of money[1]. They don't need Unity.
* Improbable (in the long term) threatens Unity's revenue as a competitor[2].
1: crunchbase.com/organization/i…
2: unity.com/solutions/real…
* Improbable had first move advantage here, and clearly used it[3]. News stories were ready to go w/blog post.
* Unity was clearly preparing for this with ToS changes[4]. Improbable could easily monitor their moves.
3: theguardian.com/business/2019/…
4: unity3d.com/fr/legal/terms…
* Unity was clearly preparing for this with ToS changes[4]. Improbable could easily monitor their moves.
3: theguardian.com/business/2019/…
4: unity3d.com/fr/legal/terms…
* Negotiations like this wouldn't go south overnight. Unity and Improbable both had a chance to prepare for this.
* Revoking editor licenses had to be a last-ish resort for Unity, immediately giving Improbable a chance to retaliate.
* Unity failed to respond until late afternoon.
* Revoking editor licenses had to be a last-ish resort for Unity, immediately giving Improbable a chance to retaliate.
* Unity failed to respond until late afternoon.
* Because Improbable integrates with other engines, they don't need their Unity customers. Open-sourcing their SDK and setting up a transition fund effectively defangs Unity's tactics here...
* Because Unity (had to?) promise(d) their customers that anyone using Spatial is safe.
* Because Unity (had to?) promise(d) their customers that anyone using Spatial is safe.
* Epic had an opportunity to dive in for the kill here[5]. $25m is literally nothing if you have Fortnite Money (400M+ usd/yr).
* Epic can play this as an 'open vs closed' conflict and is clearly prepared to[6].
5:
6:
* Epic can play this as an 'open vs closed' conflict and is clearly prepared to[6].
5:
6:
* Godot is not a big player in this space, but is a notable 'open Unity' alternative that game tools and runtime people are aware of. Sweeney name-dropping them is not an accident. People using Godot are not using Unity, which undermines an actual threat to Unreal.
* Unfairly or not, indie developers are primed to view Unity as a bad actor between strong-arm sales tactics, shady-looking ToS updates, and grievances with the product. Gamers (unreasonably) dislike Unity too.
* Unreal has positive mindshare that makes dunking on Unity work.
* Unreal has positive mindshare that makes dunking on Unity work.
* Indie developers, studio bizdev types, and investors all now realize that Unity's ability to retroactively change terms is a threat to their business. Depending on Unity suddenly looks like a threat to your livelihood.
* Middleware vendors now realize Unity could cut them off.
* Middleware vendors now realize Unity could cut them off.
* This makes Unreal look safer because of Epic's promise to waive royalties for releases on their store[7]. Note Unity dig in bar chart.
* The shutdown of games like Lazarus indicates that Unity failed to reassure devs before Improbable spooked them.
7: unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/ann…
* The shutdown of games like Lazarus indicates that Unity failed to reassure devs before Improbable spooked them.
7: unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/ann…
How precisely was this coordinated? Did someone at Improbable see an out-of-office notification from a lawyer or executive and pull the trigger? It's just wild how much seems to have gone wrong today. 
