SideQuest is threatening legal action against Unity's planned installation fees, telling game engine makers to "stick it up your pipe and smoke it."
Yesterday, Unity announced the Runtime Fee, a new fee based on revenue and installs over the past 12 months, starting in 2024. According to yourUnity planUnlike , this new fee will cost up to $0.20 per install and covers both future releases and games currently available. Despite widespread criticism from developers, Unity'sofficial responseShowing the company is sticking to its guns.
On Wednesday, popular VR sideloading platform SideQuest threatened legal action over how it monitors installations. The company is intwotweetsissued the following statement:
SideQuest does not authorize Unity to use any data obtained from us to determine the cost of each installation. Our downloads are referred to as "clicks" on our website and do not constitute a download or installation. Any data you obtain from our platform that is used to determine these ridiculous setup fee calculations will immediately expose you to litigation. Stick it in your pipe and smoke.
SideQuest in one articleblog postMedium further explains that this is "harmful" to developers of all sizes and the gaming community as a whole, outlining five major concerns - "predatory" revenue thresholds, retroactive terms of service, Unity's "self-contradiction", Impact on free-to-play and lack of transparency.
SideQuest isn't the only group that appears to be threatening legal action against Unity. in one articleXalavier Nelson Jr.In a separate post, Strange Scaffold lead and Stranger Things VR writer had the following to say:At least one major developer group is discussing a class action lawsuit against Unity.
Following yesterday's news, many VR developers expressed their condemnation of the planned changes. Since publishing this article, we’ve received more feedback from developers about ouraskComments fromAnton Hand(hot dogs, horseshoes and grenades),Devdatta Puntambekar(DEFTXR),Reed Seal-Foss(Blocks Simulator),Gaurav Kale(Digital Bacon),Beep2Bleep Gamesetc.
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