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It sounds like the feud between the Unity game engine company and indie developers over recent changes to Unity’s pricing model is escalating, and not in a good way. A new report from Bloomberg stated that Unity’s offices in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco were closed today, due to the company receiving what’s reported as a “credible death threat”.
The report stated that Unity’s CEO John Riccitiello was scheduled to hold a town hall meeting with Unity employees today, but that meeting was postponed after the company received the death threat. There’s currently no word on the source of this threat.
Rock Paper Shotgun posted a statement from a Unity spokesperson who added:
We have taken immediate and proactive measures to ensure the safety of our employees, which is our top priority. We are closing our offices today and tomorrow that could be potential targets for this threat, and are fully cooperating with law enforcement on the investigation.
These threats come after Unity announced major changes to the pricing model this week for using its game engine in general, and its Unity Runtime app in particular. Starting January 1, 2024, the company will charge developers a per-install fee for its Runtime software after a certain number of installs and revenue levels have been reached.
The reaction from Unity game developers has so far been almost universally negative, with fears that some small indie developers might not be able to afford to play the per-install fees. Many major developers that have used Unity in the past have now said they will switch engines or no longer make new games with Unity.
The company has since posted a number of clarifications about this change. That includes one that was posted on its X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday, where it says it will not charge developers for reinstalls of a game, and that there will be no charges at all for web-based and streaming games, nor for games that are released for charity or are part of charity bundles.
