Unity's pricing not to change, WebGL will be free

http://blogs.unity3d.com/2014/08/14/building-and-maintaining-value-for-developers/

"We spent the past few months talking to many of you around the world about Unity and the value proposition we offer, and we discovered the overwhelming majority felt that we were providing excellent value across the board. In fact, many of you expressed concern over a race-to-the-bottom business model for tools that your livelihoods depend upon. And you also raised a strong voice against a royalty-based business model. In our many years as a startup, we’ve always re-invested our money back into our product. "


Hmm.. from what I understood based on the forums and people 'I've spoken to', everyone wanted the subscription price to come down. I certainly didn't see the 'majority' voting that they are 100% happy with the pricing model.

 

Forummers really aren't a good representation of Unity users overall. To quote myself:

 

"We believe the business model and pricing we have now is one that will continue to provide us with the resources we need to ensure Unity is the most reliable and delightful way to build games for the majority of developers. Nothing remains static though, and we may revisit our business model and pricing at some point in the future."

It's official. Back to square one, I guess.

 

That's huge.

 

Yes, the forums can sometimes give a very distorted view of reality, where a few people constantly repeating things makes it seem like a majority view when actually it's not. (This is a well-known social phenomenon that goes way beyond the Unity forums, by the way.) They mentioned using a third-party research firm, so I'd trust that over a forum topic. That's not to dismiss the views of people who don't like the current pricing model, since I know it's frustrating to feel strongly about something and not have things go your way. But in order to stay in business they can't completely ignore the majority. They've proven on several occasions that they listen to customers about pricing and are willing to change their minds (the Unity 4 upgrade pricing and this news about WebGL being free to name two), so I think it's disingenuous to accuse them of not listening.

--Eric

 

Unless people are making assumptions I didn't see anything in there that Unity Pro gets you Pro WebGL. The problem with Unity pricing currently isn't $1500 pro, it's $1500 pro + $1500 pro android + $1500 pro ios, etc or the absurd monthly pricing.

 

"So we have decided that with Unity 5.0 we’ll make the WebGL deployment option add-on available to both free users and Unity Pro customers without cost."

--Eric

 

That is sad. I hoped for indie pricing or something like that.

 

I'm happy to see that WebGL will be free. Still, would have been nice to see Android and iOS fully included in a Pro-license. Oh well, I may have to just bite the bullet, then.

 

Yeah but having access to the add-on without cost != mean having access to all pro features without cost. I have access to iOS builds I just can't use Pro features with my current license.

 

When it comes to the pricing of pro, one should keep in mind that the majority of Unity users are using the Free version and are making less than the 100k/year threshold - so of course they'd want it to be cheaper. It is most likely that Unity was evaluating the pricing model based on the balance between a potential user's likelihood to produce a successful game requiring pro features, their willingness to pay the current price, and Unity's monetary needs for supporting their business. Obviously the balance came out in favor of keeping the price the same - there are enough users willing to pay as-is for the benefit of pro features.

From what I've seen, the majority of people complaining about the current Pro price don't need the features - they just want to play with them... and I can hardly blame them for that, but it's not a good enough reason to lower the price. To the majority of Unity users, the engine is a hobbyist's toy - and Free supports a low-budget hobbyist. Unity Pro is named as it is because it's intended for professionals willing to invest.

It should be kept in mind that Unity Free was called Unity Indie before the cost was completely dropped; it was intended for Indie developers, and the free version has only improved since that time. The fact that people are still asking for a price drop and are still hoping that Unity will lower its up-front costs to be more comparable with other engines instead of just flat-out switching to the competition only proves that Unity is actually worth the current price.

If you prefer Unity and can't afford Pro, then use Unity Free. If you think you've got something good going on with your project and you require Pro features, then you will almost certainly find a way to come up with the necessary funds. Just have patience.

 

Well - WebGL being free is good...
Regarding the pricing : really can't complain, while the entry for Pro+Android+iOS might look steep, the upgrade pricing is quite fair IMHO ( at least at the preorder rate )

 

Indeed, but as a mobile developer I will need the Pro-versions of both add-ons. But as I said, just have to buy them with the current prices, then. I don't think they're outrageously expensive, but I'd guess more people would buy them if they were a bit cheaper.

EDIT: Ah, you were talking about the WebGL builds, my mistake.

 

I have always felt that Unity's pricing on Pro was prefect. I felt the addon pricing could have used some adjustments but overall it was ok.

However, the subscription model in my opinion is way off the mark (ie. too expensive) to enable Unity to convert a large subset of the free users into paying subscribers (customers) which in turn would have enabled them to accelerate their revenue and overall business growth.

 

It's unlikely they would have specifically said "available to both free users and Unity Pro customers without cost" unless they meant exactly that. In other words, the WebGL publishing is a direct replacement for the current webplayer publishing (or it will be, after the webplayer eventually goes away). They don't advertise the iOS add-on as "available to Unity Pro customers without cost", after all, even though that's technically true in some sense, as you mention.

That's pretty much exactly my thoughts.

I would have thought so, but evidently I would have been wrong since the subscription option was initially just a temporary experiment, but after a while they decided to make it a permanent option, which they wouldn't have done if it wasn't working.

--Eric

 

I was always under the impression that the subscription model was intended for two types of developers:

1. Companies where funding comes on a schedule that does not allow for one large up-front investment.
2. Developers who believe they can finish developing a game using Pro before the subscription cost passes the full, up-front cost.

You don't have to get your monthly-rate pricing from Unity Technologies directly, you could get a loan. Interest rates are particularly nice right now.

 

Huh?

 

No, but it is a good reason to consider an alternative such as a more feature capable hobbyist tier or selling features individually. Otherwise any potential sales may be lost to the competition which is offering hobbyists an affordable price.

 

It all depends on Unity's objective / definition of working?

At $75.00 per month, I don't think Unity is converting 10's of thousands (ie. a significant chunk) of their free users into paying subscribers so by my definition, the subscription model isn't working. Having been in sales for over 30 years, I can't help but think they are missing out on a huge opportunity here. But then again, I don't know what their internal numbers show so who knows.

In the end, pricing and minor details aside, I love Unity.

 

Meh. Give them another year of Unreal 4 and Cryengine catching up and I'm sure they'll change their tune a bit. At least they should have considered making iOS/Droid free for pro or making indie a bit more feature-complete.

 

Who cares?
We have Unreal Engine.

 

I guess I'll crosspost here from the WebGL thread because there's some things that were said that kinda rub me the wrong way.

 

in asia you should include japan and korea...

 

Japan and Korea are large markets, yes, but India and China's are absolutely massive and forces to be reckoned with. Like, the scale of them is absolutely staggering.

 

I'm from India and have been to quite a few places. Most People can't even afford computers let alone delve into game development. The few that do however, are extremely underpaid when compared to their, say American or even Chinese counterparts. We're looking at figures like ₹10,000 per month (about $175) and that is considered a pretty well paying job. India pretty much leads at exporting physical stuff but doesn't yet have a stronghold over the virtual market (internet). So I'd say India is in the minority group when it comes to game development.

 

WebGL for free is awesome.

As for keeping the current pricing model - well, time will tell how that goes. I think a lot of users find UE4s pricing model more attractive.

 

If you weren't giving Unity any money to begin with, were using the free version, and weren't planning to pay for any of the current Pro pricing models, then they aren't really loosing you to a competitor.

Also, that competitor is only gaining a small fraction of the unpaid Pro price. Sure they get more numbers paying that small fraction, but are they actually getting enough to really call it a steal? I doubt it. Keep in mind that Unity hasn't changed its pricing model, while Unreal has essentially gone from UDK for free to Unreal 4 for $19/mo. Unity was doing fine competing against their free pricing model, so I'm not sure why people are acting like their paid model makes them more of a threat.

 

Because UE4 and UDK are completely different things.

 

I suspect that most of the Chinese developers using Pro get access to it through the companies they work for, not out of their own pockets. Those who don't use Pro, also don't pay, and I'd bet they also don't complain about it as much either.

 

Not to a hobbyist - which is the target audience we're discussing.

 

Yes, mainly to a hobbyist there is a huge difference. Did you even try to use both programs?

 

What about people who do pay? I've said all along, it's all about featuresets. If Unity has a higher intial outlay, this has to be justified and the demographic could be hobbyists to mid sized indies. If royalties are an issue (lovely place to be because that means you're earning a lot of money) then be smart and do a deal with Epic.

Even if the forum userbase is small, there has been some challenge on pricing and / or features and I know of people who have moved or are going to move.

None of this is a reflection on how good Unity is, Unreal 4 is a new engine and Unity 5.0 is a new upgrade. A lot of people are hanging on to see the outcome, they will be evaling UE4 because it's buggy and rough around the edges now. They'll want to see what all the fuss is with Unity 5.0..

This is all very much a wait and see game.

P.S I can't fathom how you think UE4 and UDK are the same thing?

 

I'm impressed with the decision to make WebGL a free platform, great news indeed.

 

They pay/paid... what about them?

I guess the realized that they fell into that middle-ground between free with limited features and paid with more features, so they decided to go with paid with more features in a less appealing engine (if it was more appealing, we wouldn't be talking about this right now).

That's just marketing BS. One could just as easily have claimed that Unity 5 is a whole new engine based on the fundamental changes being made, while Unreal 4 is just Unreal 3 with a new interface and shinier effects. Plus, software doesn't need to be rewritten from scratch to be considered "new".

 

That's not true in any way.

 

If you say so.

 

I do.

 

As someone who earns less than $32,000/year, working a part time job (which I recently quit), I think the Unity pricing is very fair, and I'm happy to pay it. I used the free version until I became comfortable with the software. My desire to do my best with my current game, find stable work in the game industry, and my need for realtime lighting makes the monthly subscription payments easy.

The industry and steam are being flooded with mediocre games, I'm happy that there are still SOME barriers to entry.

My only concern at this point with Unity is how much of a focus they put on mobile development, as that is something I have no interest in.

 

Well you missed the point of that by a 1000yd's at least.

What about them? "FEATURESETS"!!!

It is appealing, that's why I switched for our main project. Does this automatically mean you can't still use Unity for the odd thing and / or you're automatically banned from the forums because you use UE4?

UE4 is a new engine, with a new API and some things taken from UDK.. Damn the thing in some areas actually supports less than UDK did, you think they'd intentionally make their new engine weaker in a couple of places? Think about it!.

 

...Or pirate it (which mostly is the case). You don't really expect people living in underdeveloped countries to pay tons of $$$ for something which can be pirated easily. I'd reckon Atleast 60% use pirated Unity pro. :/

 

Only 60%?

 

I was being generous.

 

Totally banning you!

Just kidding. But can we refrain from having arguments about UDK vs UE4, totally off topic.

 

Sure thing Aurore, y'know what it's like one thing leads to another .

 

Someone starting off as a hobbyist does not automatically imply they will never be anything more. Plans change quite easily.

 

I like to think that if Unity could they would make it free, we already see this with consoles were it seems MS, Sony and Nintendo pick up the bill for those platforms. As Unity grows I hope that more companies would try and do the same(I'm assuming MS, Sony and Nintendo are not paying 1500 a license probably more one large sum?) the potential would be enormous for somewhere like Samsung to give free Unity pro licenses for their new OS or maybe Google for Chrome OS.

 

Well to summize because were overshadowing the holistic components, WebGL free nicely done "applause". But I hope Unity keeps doing what it does best whilst striving to become a market leader in the PC and console market as they have strived to in the mobile segment, then even if you have to save for a week / month or even a year then you can say without a doubt I made the right decision.

 

We actually have a metric S*** tonne of (legit) customers in APAC