Under CEO John Riccitello, EA was voted the most hated company in the United States.
The Unity game engine is used by thousands of people to develop games. Last week, however, the engine’s operators sparked a massive shitstorm when they introduced a new fee policy. Now the company has responded to the massive criticism.
What has happened so far? Unity’s decision to charge developers for every installation of their game above a certain threshold has caused a huge stir in the gaming industry. Many independent developers, who are already working on tight budgets, found themselves under financial pressure as a result of this regulation.
The reaction on social media was intense, with many developers and fans expressing frustration and concern about the impact of this regulation on the indie developer scene. The lack of clarity about how installations should be monitored added to the uncertainty.
The controversy reached its peak when it was revealed that John Riccitiello, Unity’s CEO, had sold a significant amount of company stock shortly before the settlement was announced. This led to speculation about insider trading and further distrust of the company.
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How the Unity drama now threatens the future of developers
Unity’s sneering apology
In an attempt to calm the situation, Unity declared that it would communication errors
came and the details of the new policy were not clearly conveyed.
Over the weekend, the company reconsidered its position and finally apologized on Monday via its social media for the chaos that had ensued:
We heard you. We apologize for the confusion and upset caused by the term fee policy announced on Tuesday. We are listening, talking to our team members, community, customers and partners and will change the policy.
We will release an update in a few days. We thank you for your honest and critical feedback.
Link to Twitter content
But no apology? Unity’s apology regarding the introduction of the term fee policy may at first glance seem like a step in the right direction. However, if you look closer and read between the lines, it almost seems as if the company wants to blame the community.
Instead of clearly and directly taking responsibility for the Confusion and annoyance
The apology suggests that the community misunderstood Unity’s original intent. This can easily be perceived as condescending and insulting, as if the developers and fans are incapable of correctly interpreting the company’s intentions.
What’s next? Unity’s decision not to abandon the controversial idea entirely, but simply to revise it, has certainly raised eyebrows in the community. Many had hoped that the company would back out completely due to the massive headwinds.
Instead, Unity seems to want to stick with a concept that has already caused significant concern and distrust. It remains to be seen how the situation will develop in the coming days and what steps Unity will take. However, after this flimsy excuse, developers and fans shouldn’t get their hopes up too high.
