Update: 09:46 BST 14/09/2023 - Massive Monster has clarified that its post about delisting Cult of the Lamb in protest of Unity was a joke. The game will not be removed from storefronts on January 1. Original story follows.
Last night, Unity announced plans to charge developers 20 cents every time a player installs a game running on its engine. This was rolled back after backlash from all corners of the games industry to only mean the first installation. However, the backlash has not subsided, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Cult of the Lamb developer Massive Monster has gone as far as to threaten to d🅠elist its game should the change not be rolled back entirely.
"Unity is introducing a runtime fee that's based on game installs," Massive Monster said, as reported by . "Our team specialises in Unity games. We have future projects in the pipeline that were initially planned to be developed in Unity. This change would result in significant delays since our team would need to acquire an entirely new skill set."
The new skill set Massive Monster mentions is developing in a new engine, as many developers and publishers are swearing off Unity altogether following the announcement. At the time of writing, Unity plans to roll out its policy changes - which would be retroactively applied to released games - on January 1. As such, if the plans are not scrapped, January 1, 2024, is also when Cult of the Lamb will be delisted. You'll still be able to play it if you own a copy, but 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:you won't be able to buy it anymore.
"At Massive Monster, our mission has been to support and promot🐈e new and emerging indie games,🦩" the developer wrote. "The introduction of these fees by Unity could pose significant challenges for aspiring developers."
Cult of the Lamb publisher 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Devolver Digital also made a tweet in lieu of the Unity news, "Definitely include what engine you're using in game pitches. It's important information!" Many took this to mean that not only will developers be avoiding Unity, but publishers too, which could have huge ramifications on indie developers, especially those with projects in development yet to find a publisher.
Unity's change may also impact game subscription services too. According to Axios reporter Stephen Totilo, "Devs [are] not on the hook for Game Pass", which likely means that Microsoft will have to pay the installation fees on behalf of developers.
This could lead to Microsoft, among other subscription owners such as PlayStation, avoiding Unity-developed gamꦛes altogether to avoid the exඣtra cost of hosting them on their platform.