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Unity 2.6 is out (and free!)

Discussion in 'Announcements' started by Samantha, Oct 28, 2009.

  1. Samantha

    Samantha

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    Dear awesome Unity community,

    With great pleasure I will share that we have completed development on version 2.6 of Unity. This release includes some awesome new features for everyone like a brand new Animation Editor and Project search, along with additional Pro-only features such as a Profiler, Ambient Occlusion, and tons more.

    You can read more about what's been packed into this release on the new 2.6 feature page.

    But we're not quite done here... That's right, we've discontinued Unity Indie and replaced it with a feature-identical version of the Editor called simply "Unity". The difference? Unity is free for everyone. One more barrier to entry torn down.

    For current Indie license holders, we've thought about you too! We're offering a discount on a Unity Pro upgrade for all Indie license holders. Until the end of the year, you can upgrade to Unity Pro for $1099. And if you've purchased Unity Indie in the past 60 days, you can opt to receive a full refund for your purchase instead. Those who qualify for the full refund should receive an email with details soon.

    Finally, I'd just like to say thanks to everybody that uses, learns, and teaches Unity. Our community is about to grow again with new Unity users, and I'm just really proud of how the spirit of helping and supporting each other perseveres throughout each new influx. It's just great, plain and simple. I'm looking forward to playing all your brilliant creations!
     
  2. Samantha

    Samantha

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    Here are some more details of the rebate, directly from Nicholas (as posted in the Gossip thread)

     
  3. Hans

    Hans

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    Woh that is a radical change to Unity and the community.

    But nice, even though i purchased the ide ver at the begin of the year - but hey times change :)

    great work on the new release

    Thanks for it all

    Hans
     
  4. Death4Hire

    Death4Hire

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    Hey Unity

    You just made me angry. I've really worked hard on earning that amount of money for an Indie license this year. I live in a 3rd-world country and $200 is not an easy money to get.

    Now, just months later you make it free and my only option now is to SPEND AGAIN on a huge amount of money to get the discounted prices of what I don't need (e.g. Pro or iPhone) -- and only for a limited time!

    Like I said, I am not in a glorious country and that amount of money is precious to me. I NEED A REFUND!

    - Andrei
    from Philippines
     
  5. mudloop

    mudloop

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    So how does this refund work for people who have Unity Indie + Unity iPhone Basic? Can I get the refund for Indie, and still keep my Unity iPhone Basic license?

    I'd prefer to upgrade to Pro, but can't afford it right now, so the refund would be a nice option.

    Good luck with the new release!
     
  6. Mixality_KrankyBoy

    Mixality_KrankyBoy

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    Yeah I don't want to be a hater but I am also quite disappointed.

    I have Indie which I bought in March and though I don't want a refund I am chocked that almost all the new features in 2.6 are for Pro. I was looking forward to the Profiler and the SVN support....very lame. And why don't we get them? Because now it's free and the dev's can say - hey what do you expect for $0 - well some of us didn't pay 0$!! I would understand all the visual/graphic features to be in Pro only.

    Very very disappointing, $1100USD is still a lot of money for a lot of us. And how long until Unity 3.0 and we have to pay out again. I think moving to Pro should be considerable less for Indie holders for that reason alone.
     
  7. mudloop

    mudloop

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    Well, you still got what you paid for, and unless they promissed that those features would be in the Indie version, I think it's a fair decission from them.
     
  8. Mixality_KrankyBoy

    Mixality_KrankyBoy

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    My issue is not what I paid for I have no complaints there. My complaint is with 2.6 - they really should have broken the features out for Indie and Pro long ago to set expectations.

    As we are getting closer to a 3.0 release who wants to spend $1100 and then have to shell out again in less than a year(?).
     
  9. Timmer

    Timmer

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    In all fairness they always said that VCS support was going to be Pro-only.

    Also, if you buys 2.6 Pro you'll get 3.0 at a discount (you can check out the store for the current discounts on the previous version).

    I don't think 3.0 will come out anytime soon -- at the soonest, a year, although I could be wrong but since it's a huge update, I think it'll be later rather than sooner.

    2.6 Basic has more features than 2.6 Indie. 2.6 Pro has even more.
     
  10. purplelilgirl

    purplelilgirl

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    Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

    My friend and I (who are also from the Philippines), were still planning how to get the money for a Unity Indie license, and now you're giving it to us for free! We're so happy :D We want to hug you guys~!

    Thank You! Thank You again! :D
     
  11. Armagon

    Armagon

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    Ridiculous. We paid for something that is now free. Where's our refund, Unity?
     
  12. Randy-Edmonds

    Randy-Edmonds

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    The people complaining on this thread about Unity (indie) now being free makes me ill. Geesh, I really hate stupid greedy people.
     
  13. PrvtHudson

    PrvtHudson

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    Not that I am really in a position to bargain, but as a hobbiest, I still can't afford $1100 to upgrade. I would for $650 though. This is the "Upgrade to Unity Pro from Unity 1.x Pro" price. I wonder how many other Indies would take advantage of a one time advantage like this. I don't want to miss the new 2.6 or whatever features ... This would also pretty much lock us into your 2-3 year upgrade loop.

    You can't afford NOT to give us this one time low-low price, Unity, so act now ... I can't do this all day.
     
  14. pochimuffin

    pochimuffin

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    Thanks UNITY for making it free! Although, it kinda sucks for those who paid for the Indie version, I still think it's an awesome move. Unity could be the new standard engine for web games! Yey for FREE UNITY!!! :D
     
  15. minevr

    minevr

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    Supper good news~~~~.... :wink:
     
  16. Seer

    Seer

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    Yeah, great. I bought it on 2009/07/28, I can get a refund? (it's only 2-3 days from that 60 limit which is a must for refund with any software)


    @randyedmonds
    Yeah, damn those stupid, greedy.. evil.. EVIL people.

    BRB, checking the status of the money-growing-tree in my backyard. :roll:
     
  17. Robz

    Robz

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    I purchased unity indie and iphone basic 3 months ago, I only wanted to develop for the iphone but as you know you require both. As I live in the UK I had to pay 25% tax on top of the standard price which made the purchase around $750. with this in mind I read the unity road map and estimated my time for support, at least upto unity indie 3. It now seems I have an iphone product that I cannot use as I do not have unity pro (which I do not want) and my estimations were shall we say “off the mark”

    Unity for free is great news, however as a paying customer I have only had support for 3 months. Does this mean no more support on unity iphone basic upto 2.0 or beyond for unity indie license owners.
     
  18. Tempest

    Tempest

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    Where are you reading that Unity isn't going to support non-pro users?
     
  19. Eric5h5

    Eric5h5

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    Nicholas said that there is a $400 discount on the Pro upgrade. The upgrade to Pro is normally $1300. So, a $400 discount makes the upgrade $900. This seems quite generous to me, especially considering that it doesn't matter when you purchased Indie...there's no 60-day thing, unlike for the refund. I do think the 2 month limitation on this offer is a bit short with Christmas at the end of it, but it's still a good offer.

    --Eric
     
  20. Seer

    Seer

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    Got the upgrade email from Sales Team..

    Wow, for just 51,000 (+VAT extras) bucks I can be the proud owner of a shiny new Pro.. which I will again have to pay to upgrade soon, but that's a different story. Forget making games, this year my goal is to raise enough money to pay for Pro version.

    Also, no refund option. Great.

    Whelp, I am done. On the side note, great people like randyedmonds won't be seeing more of us greedy people here. :p
     
  21. Eric5h5

    Eric5h5

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    Wait, that makes the discount on a Pro upgrade $200 instead of $400...now I'm confused....

    --Eric
     
  22. SixTimesNothing

    SixTimesNothing

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    With something like this there are bound to be a few people who are disappointed, or who miss out on the cut-off date by a few days - and I can totally sympathise with that - it does kinda suck. But they have to draw the line somewhere.

    I think this is a really strong business move by UT. This lowers the barrier to entry and ultimately means that there will be a lot more Unity content out there, which will help to push the coverage of the Unity browser player - which in turn helps us all by making the content we develop get seen by more people, making it all that much more valuable.
     
  23. Seer

    Seer

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    Heh, whatever. I am just going to have to live with this new decision of theirs (plus I can't get refund cause of 2 days which makes it worse).

    On the side note, hopefully, we won't have to pay for any freeware version and they won't be gimped mad to make Pro even more attractive (like adding almost every feature in Feedback forum for Pro users first).

    It's still one of the best tools for Indie and now, sort of, free. Lets see if they add more limitations in future releases.

    I still do hope that they come out with a option for free users to pay to remove or activate few features specific to their interest. Like $200 to remove the Unity logo or enable dynamic shadows? Hmm? No? Pro users will feel cheated? Oh ok. :D
     
  24. milkytreat

    milkytreat

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    This is great for people new to unity :)

    As an indie purchaser - it does feel abit like a kick in the pants or the value of my purchase has dropped.
     
  25. billyzelsnack

    billyzelsnack

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    While this is an overall good business move. It really is not a good thing to screw over ( at least emotionally ) your customers.

    IMO the proper thing to of done was to give your existing customers something extra as an appreciative thanks. Something extra that did not require giving you more money to get it. That just comes off as kinda sleazy.
     
  26. Robz

    Robz

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    I have not read that unity will not support none pro users, I simply posed the question. However reading between the lines it does seem I will have no other choice but to purchase pro after iphone basic reaches 2.0, which judging by the last version jump will not be long

    PS I still love unity but I think we will be parting soon as I do not require pro
     
  27. Seer

    Seer

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    Agreed. I don't want money-back since, like I have said before, Unity is worth it. But really, most of us have paid for 2-3 months, those who got it in last two got out but saying "we have to draw a line.. *YOINK*" isn't very comforting (esp. with professional Pro users going around telling us how evil and cheap we are).

    At least Unity can add something extra (like I said again), like remove logo or add some feature from pro for us. Isn't even one of those things worth $200?
     
  28. NicholasFrancis

    NicholasFrancis

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    There are no plans to make Unity iPhone Basic require a Pro license. There are no plans about no supporting people using any version of Unity. We want to make a great product, and supporting you guys is an important part of that.

    After all, it's not only Pro users that have great ideas.
     
  29. Eric5h5

    Eric5h5

    Volunteer Moderator Moderator

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    I'd just like to point out that, logically, if you expect the price of something to be adjusted for you based on subsequent price changes, rather than what the price was when you bought it, that means you expect to pay the differential if the price increases as well. I believe Unity Pro was originally $1000...did people who paid that price demand that they be forced to pay an additional $500 when the price went up to $1500 a little while later? Somehow I don't think so.

    Why would Pro users feel cheated? Maybe if you bought Pro for just one feature, but I really doubt there are many people who do that. Theoretically I think that's actually a good idea, but it does create quite a bit of additional support costs and potential confusion, so it's unlikely they'd think the benefit was worth it.

    --Eric
     
  30. PrvtHudson

    PrvtHudson

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    I swear to god I will upgrade to Pro if Eric kicks in $200. :):)
     
  31. NicholasFrancis

    NicholasFrancis

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    Like maybe an Animation Editor, better editing tools, or any of the other tweaks and additions we just did? :)

    As an Indie user you still get the rebate options in case you want to make the jump and upgrade to Pro or get an iPhone license as well. No matter when you bought it (withing the 2.x cycle, that is).
     
  32. Seer

    Seer

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    What support costs and confusion?

    If they are doing all these changes, giving EVERY user an option to upgrade specific feature in their Free version to slowly make it to the Pro version isn't going to confuse or make life hell for anyone (I mean all the features in Pro are still listed in Indie.. they just look turned OFF).

    Sort of like World Of Warcraft. They charge you few extra bucks if you want to change player race/class/whatever. You don't have to do it all at once. You are still paying more than you would (which is nothing, except for those who paid $200..). If Blizzard can do that with millions then I doubt it it will become confusing for anyone out here between few thousands (plus it's not like Unity is giving it for free).

    Also, if you think Pro users won't feel cheated, then you haven't been paying more attention to threads and the comments posted around here.
     
  33. billyzelsnack

    billyzelsnack

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    No. Those are part of the original purchase price as all 2.0 upgrades were included. ( Yeah I know you had a smiley. )
     
  34. Seer

    Seer

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    I am glad that you guys added all that and surprised that it didn't cost me anything.. well, was before, now it really didn't cost anything to the rest of the world..

    But, like I stated above, instead of such regular changes, maybe Indie users can pay for specific upgrades to their engine? Not asking for a free upgrade to those shadows, water and whatnot features. Pay to add.

    EDIT: BTW, pay to add specific pro only features. Not regular updates (else this will be GarageGames all over again) This way those of us who cannot afford a 50,000+ bucks upgrade to pro can reach somewhere in the middle-ground with this and that feature we require.

    I have to admit, of all the "Indie saver" talk from GarageGames it has been Unity that has done more for Indies. So that's why I think such upgrade scheme will work with you guys over them.

    Just saying.

    /personal view
     
  35. Robz

    Robz

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    thank you for the clarification Nicholas, my main presumption was fueled by you store page which states

    iPhone Basic
    If you have an existing Unity Pro license, please have your serial number ready.

    I simply made the assumption that I will require pro if I wish to continue using iphone basic or when I upgrade to iphone 2.0
     
  36. Dreamora

    Dreamora

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    UT is not garage games.
    They sell one technology, not 1 barebone construct to sell addons on top.
    It was confirmed recently by a UT staff member, that there are no plans to make Pro features available as addons to Indie and I'm happy about that because costs become quite unplannable if you start to see "core stuff" beeing moved out to plugins and alike.
    Also I doubt that anyone would buy such addons, as all addons together would have to cost you 1.5 - 2 times as much as getting pro right away to work out support and effort wise (distinct releases, testing against multiple core technology versions, ...)

    As such you either have pro and get the additional features or you aren't a pro user and don't get them.
    Its not like UT is mean and removes the production enhancing things in the free version, they remove that stuff from the free version that require more versed users to work in a realistic environment at all and I would assume that anyone versed that much in the topic also realizes what bargain the technology actually is.

    Especially the logo removal is about the biggest no go as the only thing that actually draws new costumers in for sure is spreading the word and thats what the logo does.

    Also, the raised discounts on upgrades (Discounts raised another $200+ in comparision to before 2.6 and the free Unity) definitely should help people forget about "loses" as they actually have the possibility to benefit financially from it.
    And that without counting in the refund for users that bought it the past 60 days.
     
  37. billyzelsnack

    billyzelsnack

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    It is a PITA to support extra versions.
     
  38. Eric5h5

    Eric5h5

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    Well, let me quote my post from a few messages up:

    So, yeah. ;)

    --Eric
     
  39. Dreamora

    Dreamora

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    Unity Pro is $1499
    The original upgrade was $1299
    For previous Unity Indie users its now $1099

    -> 1499 - 1099 = $400! :)
     
  40. PrvtHudson

    PrvtHudson

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    Except! I could have already upgraded at any time and subtracted my Indie price ... so it's a $200 incentive. :):)

    edit : add smiles for friendliness ;)
     
  41. PandaMagnus

    PandaMagnus

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    If you go to their upgrade page, the total cost for the upgrade is listed at $1099. I don't know what the original cost was before this, but I imagine it was along the lines of $1299.

    I just wish they'd extend the timeline for the upgrade discount. Now that I'm in a position where I could save up the money for it, it seems I'll miss the deadline for when the discount stops taking effect.

    Edit: Seems I'm too slow on the draw for this forum. :D
     
  42. Eric5h5

    Eric5h5

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    Yes, but that makes discount on the upgrade $200. The original wording was that the discount on the upgrade is $400. It's fine either way, and I see where $400 is coming from, but the wording was not entirely clear. ;)

    --Eric
     
  43. cbg2009

    cbg2009

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    It amazes me how people can complain about something like the price of Unity. They could be just as well charging $50,000 for a license and possibly making just as much money as they're doing so now, so be grateful you can get something like this for only $1500, and not $50k.

    Complaining about have to pay $300 more? Then go fund a professional team to create the equivalent over several years and see which is cheaper.

    Don't miss the big picture.
     
  44. PrvtHudson

    PrvtHudson

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    I'm sorry Eric ... you brought this on yourself. Put the $200 into a brieifcase and we'll meet at airport parking.
     

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  45. buffonomics

    buffonomics

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    Lovely. hope you guys also boosted your forum servers.
    Prepare for an overcrowded forum. Everyone's gonna be using Unity now.
     
  46. Amon

    Amon

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    I have a Pro license. Unity Indie going free is awesome.

    Realtime shadows do not a good game make. :)

    If you want Pro, even at full price, start churning out those mini casual games in the Unity Free and save the pennies. :)

    Instead of people looking at it as a negative look at it positively. If you didn't have indie you now do and can start creating awesome games or mini games to sell for a couple of quids. If you did own indie you now get the discount or are eligable for a refund.

    Sure there will be people who miss out by a few days but the amount of energy you put in to complaining can be recylced and used to create that next casual mini game to help you buy Pro.

    Just go code or I'll shoot myself. :)
     
  47. Timmer

    Timmer

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    That made me laugh :)
     
  48. tODDk

    tODDk

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    Thanks Unity!! I'm in the middle of my indie demo and it was going to be a definite buy for me. So this is a welcomed Halloween treat! :D
     
  49. Xenos

    Xenos

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    I just checked the Unity Store and it says there that iPhone Basic requires Unity Pro. I purchased my Unity Indie license not too long ago and was e-mailed if I wanted a refund. I'm a bit confused with the announcements. My question is, if I do get a refund, will I still be able to own, use and receive updates for iPhone Basic that I also purchased along with it?

    I don't think I'll be able to afford the Unity Pro if its required for iPhone Basic. I hope that Unity Indie users that purchased it along with iPhone Basic will still retain the iPhone Basic license even after refunding Unity Indie.

    Thanks in advance :)
     
  50. cheezorg

    cheezorg

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    I felt very positive about the news of "a 400$ discount on a Unity Pro upgrade." It took reading the last several pages to figure out that this isn't true. I can upgrade any day of the year for $1299, so upgrading at $1099 is "a 200$ discount on a Unity Pro upgrade," and not a penny more.

    From the previous comments it seems I'm not the only one confused by the wording of the offer. It's a lot of money to spend, even if it is discounted, so I can also understand why people would be upset that the only way to benefit from previously paying for a now-free product is to spend more than 5x the amount they previously spent.

    So how about it? Will you honor the $400 discount as promised?