New products and prices coming soon

You know because the engine totally wouldn't have been developed regardless of whether there were free users or not.

 

Not true. Free users were happy already.

The happiest are the mobile users who now do not have pay a huge amount of extra money for two mobile licenses on top of the desktop.

Also, there are a LOT of Pro users who make less than $200k who can now drop to Plus, get the same features, their beloved dark skin and do away with the splash screen. If you look through this thread, you will see many very happy about this.

As I have said before, you did not support MY use of the Personal Engine. Unity is giving us the same engine you guys use. How in the world did that cost them money to support me? It didn't. And I don't complain, cause them grief when I don't pay my bill, and I have never contacted Unity for support.

I am free to them as they are free to me. So easy to blame others for issues though I guess. Easy out.

 

This. Free users, outside of those few who complain about the splash and UI skin, have been happy since Unity 5 brought complete access to the engine's capabilities.

Except for bandwidth. Like I said before though unless you're hosting the servers in a remote location that is costing a small fortune to maintain the bandwidth costs are easily covered by Asset Store sales. If anything we're bringing them profit.

 

Well, first of all, i hate subscriptions, lol. I always buy my software, because i hate yearly subscriptions. According to what i read, if you subscribe to Plus or Pro, you're stuck at least one year, whether you keep on using the program or not. Also, if you subscribe to Pro with the intention to own it, you won't get further upgrades. I think that's very unusual, cause after all, you payed two years at $125 per month to support the engine, but you don't get that support back.

 

Oh, and when did i do or say anything like that?

 

@ChrisV

But, if you hate subscriptions and have yet to actually make a profit, and are only a team of two, then why are you wasting money on Pro, when you could be using Free until you actually publish something?

 

She's referring to the following statement you made.

 

Good thing it is in writing! Thanks.

 

@ChrisV

Same question I was going to ask. Why not use the Personal Edition until you are ready to publish? At least that way you can put off the subscription for a while.

I don't like the 12 month lock either. It is rather scary since life's circumstances can change so quickly. The $35 rate makes it much easier than the $75 or $125 rates though.

If I were publishing now, I might consider the Plus version but we have a long ways to go. Fortunately, Unity gives me a chance to develop without a subscription.

I think we buy enough assets to pay for our bandwidth and then some! Our support of the asset store developers also helps them to grow. I imagine many PE users, who are often not as experienced as Pro users spend more in the asset store.

 

@ChrisV
Also, you seem to be under the false impression that free users don't bring in any income for Unity.
Who do you think makes the bulk of the Asset store purchases?
My money is on the free users, who spend the money they saved for going with the free version on assets, and Unity gets, I think, about 30% of the profit on every sale.

In addition, it is likely free users that create the bulk of the assets on the asset store, at least until they start generating enough income from sales to warrant the Pro version, assuming that asset store sales count toward the profit limit.

 

Not even close, sorry. The asset store is more of a promotional tool than an income generator.

--Eric

 

Because, i have teh Pro version, and some of the assets i use, require Pro. Simple as that.

You? Do you think i haven't bought any assets perhaps? I could almost buy Unity Pro once more with what i have on assets.

And the other half are the Pro users then? If that's the case, Unity should also listen to those Pro users, and not just the free.

That's also not true. People also buy asset store assets to replace missing features.

Also, when i bought Pro, the free version did have LESS than what the free now offers. That's also ONE of the reasons i bought the Pro in the first place.

 

Heh, yah, I beat you too that thought as I was looking over the post.
This is why one must stop and think before committing a post, not after.

 

The PE version of the engine is the same exact engine as the Pro version, no difference.

We use the same assets and they all work. The distinction went away when Unity brought out a fully featured PE license for free. Prior to that, you did need the Pro version for some assets because it was different. That is no longer true and hasn't for quite some time.

So while you did need Pro at one time, you no longer do. When your license expires you can easily go to free without losing any functionality other than the services included in Pro. All your assets will work, even your old ones. And if you use Pro services, then your extra money goes for those services, which we must pay for separately.

 

There are no assets that require Pro, not even stuff that requires 5.4 since I think they opened beta access to all.

That is true. Now(well actually March 2017) you can consider that you don't need to buy anything until you start making money in the new era you live in.

 

BTW you can pay for the whole year (maybe even two?) upfront so it wont differ much from the old system. Also AFAIK you will be getting few or all patch releases for the latest release you were subscribed for (ie. 5.3.x p1-p5).

 

Unreal here I go!!!

 

Nope and nope.

Go take a better look as to what Pro 4.x & 5.x currently offer in terms of feature sets. Now compare that to the subscription Plus version.

Features have been decreased. So Pro users HAVE to use Pro subscription in order to get the exact same feature sets they are used to. Plus is downgrade. So you have to pay more to have what you already got before.

We're all getting bamboozled and many are not realizing it.

 

The unity slapped in the face of developers who pay

 

PRODUCT OVERVIEW
Unity Personal

• Free
• $100k revenue or funding cap
• All platforms
• Unity splash screen (with customization options)
• Personal tier services

Unity Plus

• Pay $35 per month with 12 month commitment
• $200k revenue or funding cap
• All platforms
• Optional Unity splash screen (with customization options)
• Dark Editor Skin
• Plus tier services

Unity Pro

• Pay $125 per month with 12 month commitment
• No revenue cap
• All platforms
• Optional Unity splash screen (with customization options)
• Dark Editor Skin
• Pro tier services
• Pay to Own

Both Plus and Pro tiers can be paid monthly or upfront (for people who find that easier for budgeting or billing purposes), and require you to commit to at least 12 months of subscription. There will also be an option to commit to Pro for 24 months, for people who want long term price certainty.

How are we being bamboozled?

This is from the most recent blog post. The only thing missing from Plus that you get from Pro are services no cap, and pay to own.

Maybe you looked at the old chart? Link here: http://blogs.unity3d.com/2016/06/16/evolution-of-our-products-and-pricing/

 

I'm confused now. if you are a Desktop Pro user not making any money (as I was) why would you not just use the free edition instead? The only reason I can see is the splash screen, which on the new Plus plan is now gone. Personally if I was still a Pro user making less than 100k, I'd move to Plus, and if I could live with the splash I'd even go free.

To me (a vocal whinger) the new plans look perfect. No reason for anyone to go Pro unless you are successful and 200k is enough to pay the $125 subs. Free users not making any money get the full engine and if they really can't live without the dark skin and removable splash then $35 is very affordable still.

So I ask again why would anyone pay for pro if they aren't making any income?

 

Because, as i told before...geeeez...i bought Pro because at the time i bought it, the free version had LESS features than the Pro, and some assets (to replace missing engine features) required Pro. It's that simple.

And as QFS said in an understandable way:

If you guys don't understand these lines, then so be it. I've already begun to switch my game over to another engine.

 

I fail to see how the upcoming Plus is less than the historical Pro in features. Unity services were not introduced until during the 5.x cycle. Can you explain what Pro-only features you would still need under the new model that you won't get in Plus?

 

Good luck to you! Wish you all the best.

 

Yeah, I hated subscriptions because of the same reason as yours. But I guess we have to clear up our mind. If you don't use the program, you actually wasted more money in the old way while you can control the lose in subscriptions. So, for now, the only downside I can think of is that you are always reminded to pay for the program during subscriptions. xD
On the other hand, it is always good to try new things. You will have a backup plan in case Unity doesn't suit your needs.

 

Yes. I did. They offer the same as the new plus version.
If you really want to discuss this any further please give specific examples where the features differ other than splash screen and dark UI.

 

Only differences I can notice are in services but no changes in features. Level11 seems to end anyways and get replaced by another lottery system so I would not miss it at the extra cost. Cloud build tier differences are not big anymore since they all allow unlimited repo size and if the existing priority is enough you can probably subscribe to pro tier separately but desktop users never really even need it anyways? Also note that some of the service thing did not even exist before in the same form or are new.

So, why don't you tell us? @QFS or @ChrisV

 

I've been a Unity Pro user since 2009. What would I lose by taking the Plus sub? The only other subscription I have is with Adobe Creative Cloud, which means I pay over the odds just to use Photoshop once or twice a week.

 

Unity had TWO lottery systems - the other being which bugs they'd actually work on

----

For small teams just starting out Plus replaces Pro, unless they get some serious funding that puts them over $200k. It's only needed when they're actually about to release something (be it alpha, demo or full launch where they find they want to avoid the MwU splash screen).

If you have a perpetual licence I think you have at least until May next year before it starts getting stale. At least I would expect patches twice a month, and their promise now is about three updates post-subscription. If you're actively supporting a current game I hope that it's generating enough income that $35/$125 per dev isn't making you buy noodles in bulk when the time to subscribe arrives. Because if that's the case, stop it. Your game is clearly a lost cause, or your debt management is horrendous.

A good reason to have Pro without a releasable product was the team licence, which until now has been necessary for the cache server. UT have promised this functionality is finally being integrated into the editor, so no more add-ons at all in the near future. The asset server just brought pain and misery, and I'm sure nobody's using that anymore

If you're a desktop-only developer currently on Pro you have a licence that gives you updates for a while. If you're above the $200k you need to consider whether the convenience of Unity is worth $125/month per seat to you sometime in about a year. You can also jump on the offer to keep paying $75/month until 2018 at the current terms (no splash-free mobile).

I think the effort of switching engine isn't always going to be worth it, unless you've been using another engine heavily alongside Unity or simply perceive the other engine as more capable for a future project. A project still in progress switching is an even worse idea.

People who only make 2D games (and PE users) definitely have it good with Unity, 3D not so much. There's the whole Enlighten situtation, for instance. I'll give UT a while to sort out the current disaster, but it's up to current perpetual licensees what they'll accept.

 

How does it work with mixing licences? Before it could get troublesome with not being able to mix Personal and Pro. What happens now with 3 tiers?

And what about expired subscriptions? Do all subscriptions have to be maintained for the duration of the project? Or only limited to active subscriptions working on a project?

 

How will Unity police the revenue limit? Will devs have to submit tax returns etc? What about a project which receives above $200K funding in total, but where the money is split between four people, all using Unity? How does that work?

 

Yeah, that seems a bit unclear. Everybody within a company would need to use the same licence, but what about external contractors? Can they use Plus while the company they deliver to use Pro? Who would check what they use, and how?

That one at least seems clear, and I think UT employees posted about it too. There's nothing forcing you to maintain a subscription, other than the revenue limit and desire to remove a splash screen. Starting a project with Pro doesn't mean you can't finish it with PE for any technical reasons.

 

It was more in the context of mixing licences, as a continuation from the rest of my post. For example: 4 people are collaborating on a project, 2 drop out and end their subscriptions. Is that problematic for those who continue?

 

We need an infographic.

 

The EULA describes the limit of mixed use as "simultaneously" (which I think your post is implying, by saying the licences used at an earlier stage are not a problem), but the mention of tagging of assets with an idenfier sounds more like it is "ever" for that project, something backed up by previous discussions with Unity staff.

I have avoided collaborations in Unity because of potential problems if people drop out while those continuing need to upgrade. I was hoping the extra tier would bring about more flexibility, or at least more clarity.

Will there be any changes to the EULA as a result of the changes?

EDIT: Spelling mistake corrected

 

Apologies if this has been mentioned in this thread or elsewhere, but I am not able to find the date at which the new prices will be in effect for new subscribers (i.e. not for folks who are migrating from a new account). In other words, when is the http://unity3d.com/get-unity page be updated with the new licensing options?

Thanks in advance.

 

That is not known at this time

 

"Coming soon". Not sure if that means days, weeks, or months. I just refresh the page every day waiting for more info so that I can remove the splash screen and release my game.

 

I'm in the same boat. game finished but waiting to be able to remove the splash before I release it.

 

Isn't this March of 2017? I thought this whole discussion was talking about the new pricing model next year? Why are y'all waiting for it now?

 

I thought the March 2017 was all about perpetual purchases, no need for that to dictate the plus plan.

 

Oh, i guess the post was updated to say this June.. Must have added that after the fact

 

Is Unity 5.4 going to be released along with the new Plus License or Plus license will come after 5.4 release?
Will be grateful if anyone from Unity team can give some insight about it.

 

I'd like to see a preview article for these "project packs" the subscription promises. What are they? Is it a genre kit made by Unity Technologies? A curated collection of assets that fit together?

 

There was detailed info about them at https://support.unity3d.com/hc/en-us/articles/208822946-What-are-Project-Packs but seems they have removed or hidden it now, maybe to do changes.

Basically they were "themed" packs containing several assets that asset store staff will pick.

 

High chance of anything interesting being something I've already bought then :/

 

Yep