People have been asking why Shader Forge was never acquired and integrated by @unity3d, now that Shader Graph is finally out in the open. Here's a thread!
Unity did in fact start that conversation with me years ago. But we ended up not reaching a deal, not because they gave me a bad one, but because our goals simply weren't aligned
The deal was, in short, that Unity would acquire Shader Forge and hire me to work on an officially integrated shader editor. Which was a great deal, but a difficult decision for me to make at the time, because I ultimately want to create games, not tools
This was a massive struggle for me. I was torn between "doing the right thing" by helping Unity devs finally get that official shader editor, versus doing what I actually want, which was to capitalize on the income Shader Forge gave, to start properly making indie games
I ended up doing the latter, because I knew Unity would finish Shader Graph on their own at some point even without me, and I had to care for my own well-being and goals in life
Don't know how it would turn out if I did end up working for Unity, but I do know, with the benefit of hindsight, that @NeatCorp wouldn't be what it is today, if at all. Budget Cuts wouldn't exist, and I wouldn't have the amazing colleagues I'm lucky enough to work with every day
I started out working on Shader Forge fully aware that one day either Unity or other asset store devs might create a "competing" shader editor, but as long as it would take long enough to help kickstart our studio, I didn't mind
In fact, at this point, there is so much happening in my life both personally and at work, so if this can ease the pressure of keeping up with supporting Shader Forge, I'm just relieved and happy to pass the torch
The people at @AmplifyCreates are doing fantastic work on Amplify Shader Editor, as is @stramit + the team @unity3d on Shader Graph! They're both looking really good, and it's great that we're going to see even prettier games from now on!
I just want to make games and have a shader editor in Unity. Now that it's officially happening, it's great news for everyone 💗
