Unity receives ‘credible death threat’ amid backlash over fees per install
Unit was forced to close two of its offices and cancel a public meeting following a “credible death threat.”
This unacceptable threat follows an announcement regarding new per-install fees for developers using the Unity video game engine.
Just two days ago, Unity caused widespread backlash within the gaming community when it revealed plans to charge developers a per-install fee every time a player downloaded one of their games.
Unity’s announcement immediately sparked a storm of criticism from developers who saw multiple flaws in this approach.
Their main concern was the possibility that players would exploit this system by repeatedly installing and uninstalling games in retaliation, costing developers money. This raised many other issues, prompting many developers to ask Unity to reconsider its position.
Although Unity has attempted to address some of these concerns, the developer community remains suspicious of the company’s intentions. Some developers are moving their projects to entirely different game engines in response to these controversial fees.
Unity CEO John Riccitiello originally planned a public meeting this morning to address growing concerns within the company. However, in light of what Unity perceived as a credible death threat, the meeting was abruptly canceled and Unity’s offices in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, California, were temporarily closed.
Riccitiello is no stranger to controversy. Last year, Riccitiello apologized following an interview in which he called some game developers “the biggest fucking idiots.” Before this latest situation, the developers were already threatening to change the engine:
Tensions are high, livelihoods are threatened and negative reactions are understandable, but death threats are never acceptable. As the controversy surrounding Unity Technologies and its per-install fee policy continues to grow, developers and industry observers are closely following this unfolding saga.
See also: Ruby on Rails creator deplores “open source hooliganism”
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