New Unity Pricing

[HavocX]

@Magnex;558650

Why do you say plus is good for releasing mobile platforms? it includes desktop too. Basically the plus is the old pro in cheaper form but with 200k income limit. For multiplatform devs the new pro is a lot cheaper now, 225 down to 125. The new pro is more expensive if you go desktop only but you have no use for majority of the services included either. So why would get pro instead of plus?

For dektop only, $35 per month for Plus is more expensive than the old upgrade option for perpetual Pro.

Pro is only cheaper for multiplatform if you compare to the old monthly payment option, which was a really bad deal. Compared to the perpetual license option that is now gone, it is more expensive.

Note that I’m not saying it is necessary too expensive, but for many users it is now more expensive.

[Magnex]

@SlyBunny;558658

As far as I know it’s for live releases, too. I could be wrong but that was how I understood it.

It’s for development phase mainly without all the full scale features and stuff Game Development Software: Build a Multiplayer Game | Unity

The multiplayer services are just optional and not forced to use them in case someone else wonders and for comparison you get none with Unreal without setting your own or using/paying for some 3rd party service

[anonymous_user_3c8274f2]

@Magnex;558666

It’s for development phase mainly without all the full scale features and stuff Game Development Software: Build a Multiplayer Game | Unity

The multiplayer services are just optional and not forced to use them in case someone else wonders and for comparison you get none with Unreal without setting your own or using/paying for some 3rd party service

Okay, I didn’t realize that. I think I’ll have to reconsider whether or not to use Unity now.

[Magnex]

@HavocX;558665

For dektop only, $35 per month for Plus is more expensive than the old upgrade option for perpetual Pro.

Pro is only cheaper for multiplatform if you compare to the old monthly payment option, which was a really bad deal. Compared to the perpetual license option that is now gone, it is more expensive.

Note that I’m not saying it is necessary too expensive, but for many users it is now more expensive.

That’s true. I think their semi-official reply in some blog or forums was that all of the editions now include more stuff than before (services, courseware, asset store discounts, etc.). Sadly if you only care about the engine and not anything else it will be more expensive.

[anonymous_user_9746ca8a]

I’ve been using Unity3D for quite a while, and honestly I always felt like their upfront licensing was superior to the royalty system that Unreal has been using, based on my own desire to bet on myself. I still like that option, and would continue using their engine except for a couple of minor problems.

First it’s mostly a indie dev only game engine, as more AAA studios either use custom built or Unreal for making their games.

Second the 4th of July change to the Unity3D forums was horrible, and to top it off they either eliminated the Job/Collaboration section permanently or they have a bug making it inaccessible for users such as myself.

My biggest problem with Unity’s switch was that they did it about half way through the Unity5.x lifecycle after a change to it at the start of the Unity5.x lifecycle which was also not well received.

I actually learned the older Unreal engines in school and taught myself Unity with books and tutorials.

[anonymous_user_26d94d8e]

@zeOrb;541741

Um, am I misunderstanding this or is it real? You have to pay more for more players per server?

That’s rubbish to be honest. I would get a better deal getting my own multiplayer service up and running than using their own.

[ambershee]

It’s a good service, but it does seem really expensive. We just have our own dedicated server boxes, though I guess that’s not an option for everybody.

[BrUnO_XaVIeR]

@M.i.G._79_Studios;561585

Second the 4th of July change to the Unity3D forums was horrible, and to top it off they either eliminated the Job/Collaboration section permanently or they have a bug making it inaccessible for users such as myself.

The commercial area of their forums is disabled because soon they will enforce all their users to pay for their “qualification test” if they want to have access to job offerings.
That company has become a big joke, wait and see. I’m 100% sure they’ll do that; they lost all respect for their customers.
After all, doesn’t matter how bad they behave, there’s always jerks in their forums still defending them no matter what.

[Magnex]

@BrUnO XaVIeR;562583

The commercial area of their forums is disabled because soon they will enforce all their users to pay for their “qualification test” if they want to have access to job offerings.
That company has become a big joke, wait and see. I’m 100% sure they’ll do that; they lost all respect for their customers.
After all, doesn’t matter how bad they behave, there’s always jerks in their forums still defending them no matter what.

Actually they hide the sections because the new forum system partly corrupted them and it was so “****” it wasn’t possible to replicate the old behavior (hinted by cm or by some mod). Luckily community has spoken and they will revert to old

And on topic they listened with the new prices too so they are doing pretty good.

[Magnex]

@NoobMod;561706

That’s rubbish to be honest. I would get a better deal getting my own multiplayer service up and running than using their own.

The services are purely optional and mainly for people who have no to setup multi-continent servers (usa, eu, asia) for relay/matchmaking.

[junfanbl]

@FrankieV;540919

Well if you actually sit down and do the math their subscription fees are not that bad and in some ways better than Epics commercial use licensing.

At full pop of 125 bucks a month a prepaid version of Unity Pro per seat is 1,500 which is now royalty free so for ten seats that 15k. That’s to say you have unlimited revenue capacity with out having to pay a per unit royalty.

Lets say you make a game in less than a year, say Angry Birds, and with in a month makes 5 million dollars your up front cost and after unit expenses is still 15k but with UE4 you own Epic $250,000 bucks.

To top it off you can write Unity off as a business expense, along with the companies car lease, where you probably will have to pay taxes on the $250,000 bucks as earned income before giving Epic their cut.

Over all both companies offer excellent licensing with Unreal 4 being a good choice for start up indie developers with zero market experience and a company like Big Fish games who seem to pump out a new game every day.

Doing the math though if your 100% sure that your game will sell Unity is the better option. This from someone who love his Unreal 4 but the maths don’t lie

CryEngine is free, whether you sell a game or not. No upfront fees unless you want to “Donate”. Otherwise you get full engine source code access and all of the features for free. In my opinion that is better than Unity and UE4. However, 5% of revenue is nothing. I don’t mind supporting a world class game engine. If they don’t have support it won’t get any better. I don’t know how Crytek is going to make money off of there licensing plan.

[Galeon]

Unreal 4 is AAA engine, there is no entry cost to start and get the best UE4 offers, it is as easy as Unity , only the learning curve is longer.
It is usable for beginners unlike CryEngine that is hard to use.
About Unity the new intermediate pricing 35$ will not attract Personnal Edition user, but it will be interesting to Pro subscription users.

[Nebulon_Ranger]

@junfanbl;566585

CryEngine is free, whether you sell a game or not. No upfront fees unless you want to “Donate”. Otherwise you get full engine source code access and all of the features for free. In my opinion that is better than Unity and UE4. However, 5% of revenue is nothing. I don’t mind supporting a world class game engine. If they don’t have support it won’t get any better. I don’t know how Crytek is going to make money off of there licensing plan.

Well, you don’t get everything, as there’s no source code for Sandbox yet. You get UnrealEd source code with UE4, though.

@FrankieV;540919

Lets say you make a game in less than a year, say Angry Birds, and with in a month makes 5 million dollars your up front cost and after unit expenses is still 15k but with UE4 you own Epic $250,000 bucks.

I think that if you’re successful enough to get to this point, you could probably negotiate a royalty-free license with Epic anyway.

[Syedhs (Syed)]

If you have been developing real games project you will know that the probability of completing a games is very small - my guess is around 10%… Most people underestimate the effort that goes behind a games.
So it is of immense help that you don’t need to pay anything until you really sell a few thousands copies… It is like your business can start using a building and all furniture in it, for free until you are really successful.

[anonymous_user_2b10dd13]

@Errvald;549465

I see it this way, Unity = mobile, UE4 = desktop.

I’m really curious as to how UE4 for mobile is progressing, case studies, etc… I should check that out more.

Unity 4 was a massive boon to Unity and game developers because of the ease of production of mobile games.

Unity 5 definitely has challenges, lightmapping for one. Additionally the framerates etc. on OpenGL ES2 and ES3 are kinda whack in Unity 5 Android builds (as far as I’ve tested).

Something got strangely weird in the transition to Unity 5.

One concerning point is also the official flashy Unity 5 demos that are shown off, of which project files are not released or some released with quite a number of issues.

[Galeon]

@Syed;568187

If you have been developing real games project you will know that the probability of completing a games is very small - my guess is around 10%… Most people underestimate the effort that goes behind a games.

What do you call a game ? a 2D game, a runner game , a 3D shooter, a 3D monkeyball ? You can finish more than one game. The chances of completing a game is only based on your scope matching with your skills and time.

[BrUnO_XaVIeR]

A game worth paying money for.