SpatialOS and Unreal Engine - Concerns I'd like to share

Dear Community,

Not sure if many of you are aware but there was/is a whole situation regarding SpatialOS and Unity unfolding. I’m sure a quick google search can give you all the details you’d need but long story short SpatialOS and Unity seem to be at a standstill.

I’ve always advocated SpatialOS since the start. Hell, I have an account that has an alpha tag for my instances. I was given member of the month for all my contributions. I was the #1 reporter of bugs and solutions during SDK previews, list goes on.

Yesterday changed my deep love with Improbable/SpatialOS. I’d like to state there are some concerns that I feel many of you need to be aware of before you embrace SpatialOS.

First, their Head Community Manager, Dvanamst, who is always so vocal, enjoyed pointing out that this whole ordeal with Unity happened quickly and without notice. “Happened Janissary 9th over night” - which aligns with their PR Blog post. However, Unity states they’ve told them a year prior and then six months later in writing (certified mail is my assumption). Asking about this, no one on the staff will reply. They are so willing to share every other ounce of information (more below) freely but they won’t confirm or deny if they got this warning and then letter in writing. I believe this community is smart enough to understand what that means. They can’t say yes for that states they knew they can’t say “no we never were informed and never had a letter in writing” because a certified piece of mail is dated and tracked, which will leave them with their pants down when it’s shown it was sent.

All to the CEO of the company blasting Unity as well (despite this warning/letter in writing). What reputable CEO does this after having a relationship with another company?

Moving on to the most serious point: your information, your PRIVACY!!!

Yesterday during the “heated hours” the staff and head Community Manager: Dvanamst so freely shared details about a user and how many meetings he had(or rather missed) with Improbable regarding project cost. This was all given in a tantrum response because they still do not have a pricing calculator of their service (which still , after two? three? years is not active.) I don’t know about many of you, but I’d rather not have a company so freely give this type of information to any staff who will so easily at a whim just spew it out to the public. Where does it stop? Who else are they giving greater amounts of details to of my data in exchange for $$$? Maybe you are the type that does not care about your privacy, but I know many here are very protective of their privacy. Cambridge Analytical anyone? All the other FB lawsuits for privacy.

Take it how you want but I feel these facts need to be stated for all future potential users to be aware of. Be cautious.

Thank you for taking the time to write and share this! I’ve been following SpatialOS on and off for about a year now and it so happens that I missed this recent Unity conflict. Indeed, a Google search was most eye-opening so I appreciate the heads-up and hope others do their own research on this topic.

To save a few clicks, here’s Unity’s blog post on the subject, which covers most of the story and shines enough light on the whole situation: Our response to Improbable’s blog post (and why you can keep working on your SpatialOS game) | Unity Blog

It’s very Improbable that I would trust both Unity and SpatialOS by now…

Both sides are very wrong getting involved in all of this. I trust Improbable as much I trust Unity now, which means after these events, none of them are to see any of my hard earned moneis :slight_smile:

Tim went throwing some millions in this because for him now a few millions are pennies he’s going to make back in a few days…

Anyway, they violated Unity license agreement.
Unity tried to force them to “become a partner”.

Both sides are wrong.

Just like to update, the communications have continued today and now we are being threatened (well, read it how you would like) by the other Community Manager about voicing our concerns. I believe you can all join their discord and read the history (there is no swearing, no overly bashing, just worry and concern).

Check out attached image.