I think most people are familiar with what has been referred to broadly as "that fucking Unity shit," but just in case, Unity - a ubiquitous development platform among independent creators - announced that they'll be charging a twenty-cent fee in the most likely scenario for that cadre of developers. Dark rituals were begun at this time. Viral tweets and personal stories began to braid in lashing, whip-like beams. Then they answered some frequently asked questions and I don't know about anybody else but they managed to make it worse…?
We didn't do the first twenty or so versions of the strip we wrote. They were unpalatable in ways that… well, that is to say, they leveraged the concepts and iconography that catapulted us to a lucrative world stage. We were even less likely to deploy this imagery once we heard about threats against the company, though it sounds like these calls may have come from inside the house.
WotC had a similar issue with the OGL, where independent of any effort at clarification or dialogue the baseline matter was their moves made the very foundation of people's work ambiguous. Everything that was "known" was thrown into chaos, and even things you thought you knew about the very substrate of your work were called into question. In the end, Wizards had to claw the entire thing back and then establish a new compact with creators with generous concessions that exceeded the original. That's the situation Unity finds itself in now, and for an art form with comparatively profound lead times. Even the basic questions that came up in their new FAQ don't have satisfactory answers - they're saying that charity offerings or games offered on subscription services aren't subject to the fee? How? How is it being calculated? How is it even being determined? And Microsoft is just gonna pick up the bill because they're cool? Last time I heard about Unity was when their CEO was calling developers fucking idiots for not using their platform, and looky loo, creators who use the ad platform get credits against the fee?
Ah, okay. Remember when Unity's John Riccitiello called developers who didn't use their ad platform "fucking idiots?" Well, if you do use it, you get credits toward these new fees the announced. It's one thing, and an effort to kill rival @AppLovin.https://t.co/OyfOce2Drh
— Tycho Brahe (@TychoBrahe) September 14, 2023
I appreciate them giving us fun strips to write and draw - strips, plural - but we've entered such a bizarre era. I think I'm done with Interesting Times.
Today marks the triumphant return of #FriDabe, extended Friday afternoon hangs where Dabe (whose incredible Kamigawa and Dungeons & Dragons designs might be hanging from your torso right now) and myself vigorously encounter new gaming shit. Today starting around 10am PST, we're gonna check out this Solar Ash that's floating around from the creators of Hyper Light Drifter. I think it's basically available on everything right now, including our stream.
(CW)TB out.
