Unity (Game Engine company) announces Merge Agreement with ironSource

[the-pi-guy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/unity-announces-merger-agreement-with-ironsource-app-monitization-in-all-stock-transaction-valued-at-4-4b.607065/

original source

ironSource will merge into a wholly-owned subsidiary of Unity via an all-stock deal, where each ordinary share of ironSource will be exchanged for 0.1089 shares of Unity common stock. Once closed, current Unity stockholders will own approximately 73.5% and current ironSource shareholders will own approximately 26.5% of the combined company. The companies' complementary offerings create a unique end-to-end platform that allows creators to create, publish, run, monetize, and grow live games and RT3D content seamlessly.

[Legend]

Yuck. ironSource seems to be primarily focused on ads for mobile games. Why would they be this valuable to Unity?

[kitler53]

Yuck. ironSource seems to be primarily focused on ads for mobile games. Why would they be this valuable to Unity?

to convince more app developers to use unity i'd guess.

[the-pi-guy]

The comments came in an interview with our friends at pocketgamer.biz just after it was confirmed that Unity and IronSource are to merge.

When Riccitiello was asked about some of the heat Unity and IronSource has received around the idea of including monetisation ideas earlier in the development process, Riccitiello responded:

"Ferrari and some of the other high-end car manufacturers still use clay and carving knives. It's a very small portion of the gaming industry that works that way, and some of these people are my favourite people in the world to fight with - they're the most beautiful and pure, brilliant people. They're also some of the biggest fudgy idiots."

Sauce

[Legend]

to convince more app developers to use unity i'd guess.

I'm worried you're right. Unity has always done great with apps and had a massive market share, and it seems they're now prioritizing that over the console side of things.

[the-pi-guy]

Makes me want to move to Unreal Engine....

[kitler53]

I'm worried you're right. Unity has always done great with apps and had a massive market share, and it seems they're now prioritizing that over the console side of things.

i'm i wrong in thinking unity is preferred by "indie" developers while things like unreal are preferred by AAA developers.   i would like unity has a higher amount of exposure to app developers and that maybe this is a thing they need to be competitive.

i dunno.   i feel like unity was a "big thing" coming out of the ps3 era but that it's lost a lot of it's luster recently.  at least in the console space when i see the unity logo my first thought is generally "well crud, this is going to have obvious performance issues".   maybe that's more the developer than the engine but i just don't have happy thoughts when i see unity.

[Legend]

Makes me want to move to Unreal Engine....

I think console Unity will be fine, but I get that.

In 10 years I know Unreal will still be one of the best engines for high quality games, but Unity may pivot.

[Legend]

i'm i wrong in thinking unity is preferred by "indie" developers while things like unreal are preferred by AAA developers.   i would like unity has a higher amount of exposure to app developers and that maybe this is a thing they need to be competitive.

i dunno.   i feel like unity was a "big thing" coming out of the ps3 era but that it's lost a lot of it's luster recently.  at least in the console space when i see the unity logo my first thought is generally "well crud, this is going to have obvious performance issues".   maybe that's more the developer than the engine but i just don't have happy thoughts when i see unity.

I don't know of any AAA games made with Unity, but AA and down it's pretty popular.

It's far from losing its luster. A big problem however is that its reputation has created a feedback loop. Unreal Engine and especially Unreal Engine 5 makes gamers happy so devs are often excited to tell players they use Unreal. Unity however often makes gamers unhappy so devs are reluctant to tell players they use Unity.

Outer Wilds for example has perfect performance and won many goty awards yet you'd only know it was made in Unity by googling it or watching the end credits.

[the-pi-guy]

What's Been Happening?
If you don't know what's going on, the timeline of events goes something like:

After years of odd decisions, acquisitions, and bloat to the engine, Unity announces that they're finally going to make a game/project Gigaya with their own engine. This would have been them "eating their own dogfood" whereby actually using their own product they will be better able to gauge internally the struggles their typical userbase deals with on a regular basis. This was to be an act of good will that would have showcased Unity's own dedication to the quality of their engine.

But only 3 months later Gigaya and the project was canceled, due to Unity restructuring and abruptly laying off about 200 of their employees, likely because...

Unity is merging with IronSource, a company focused on mobile app monetization and distribution. They were makers of Install Core, a content distribution platform that bundled application downloads together and became a vector for adware, unwanted browser extensions, and malware. IronSource discontinued Install Core in 2021, turning its focus to new ventures, but their reputation as an adware distributer persists.

With the merger's announcement, Unity's stock value took a sharp drop, adding to a steady decline over the past few years despite its large base and expanding pursuits.

And lastly regarding the merger, Pockegamer.biz had an interview with Unity's Senior Vice President and former Amazon executive, Marc Whitten, and John Riccitello, Unity's current CEO and the former CEO of Electronic Arts (A company infamous for its monetization practices, as well as being voted the Worst Company in America twice during Riccitello's own tenure there in 2012 and 2013).

During the interview, regarding the pushback from developers over early monetization implementation, John Riccitello said the following:

Ferrari and some of the other high-end car manufacturers still use clay and carving knives. It's a very small portion of the gaming industry that works that way, and some of these people are my favourite people in the world to fight with - they're the most beautiful and pure, brilliant people. They're also some of the biggest fudgy idiots.

I've been in the gaming industry longer than most anybody - getting to the grey hair and all that. It used to be the case that developers would throw their game over the wall to the publicist and sales force with literally no interaction beforehand. That model is baked into the philosophy of a lot of artforms and medium, and it's one I am deeply respectful of; I know their dedication and care.

But this industry divides people between those who still hold to that philosophy and those who massively embrace how to figure out what makes a successful product. And I don't know a successful artist anywhere that doesn't care about what their player thinks. This is where this cycle of feedback comes back, and they can choose to ignore it. But to choose to not know it at all is not a great call.

I've seen great games fail because they tuned their compulsion loop to two minutes when it should have been an hour. Sometimes, you wouldn't even notice the product difference between a massive success and tremendous fail, but for this tuning and what it does to the attrition rate. There isn't a developer on the planet that wouldn't want that knowledge.

This exchange was taken as Riccitello calling developers who Don't Prioritize Monetization 'fudgy Idiots'. However there is a ongoing debate over how Riccitello's words should be interpreted, with one side pointing out that their is truth to be found in what he's saying from a business and market standpoint, while others feel this meets their low expectations for Riccitello who's always prioritized monetization over the end-user experience.

So what is the key issue here?
Trust.

Trust in Unity, trust in Riccitello, and trust that Unity is headed in the right direction.

You see, at least here on r/Unity3D things operate a little bit differently. We are wholly independent from Unity Technologies. Yes we link to the official website, and yes we allow official Unity staff to post here from-time-to-time, but all of that came organically through a mutual good will for each other.

Humblebrag, but apparently we did our job so well that we often get Modmail thinking that we're an official Unity channel, when that has NEVER been the case. They make the engine, we showcase the stuff we make with that engine. Simple?

But when you start to take in all that Unity is and what its becoming, one has to question where do Unity's priorities lie? And I don't just mean for our tiny subreddit, but for the greater gaming industry as a whole.

For years Unity has had a terrible image problem, despite its own successes. Unity is the engine that gets mocked and derided for making bad games, greenlight garbage, etc. But if there was ever proof to then contrary, then look no further than this very subreddit with the amazing posts and discussions that all of you have here every day.

For years Unity was synonymous with trash but all of you stepped up. And now the question is, could Unity step up?

Because based the loud reactions to recent news (not just here but across the internet and across the industry) even if this drama all turns out to be a big misunderstanding, one should seriously question why so many of Unity's clientele were so quick to participate in that misunderstanding.

Unity should seriously question this fragile trust.

Unity sub

[Legend]

Gigaya was a big blow. I was really excited about that.

Riccitello's comment is really stupid. No one ignores monetization like he describes. Every dev is aware their game needs to make money and this is part of the design from day 1. Indie devs for example often add moments just to look good in gifs.

[Legend]

To our friends in the #unity community, I owe you this— pic.twitter.com/llJUL1LwXS

— John Riccitiello (@johnriccitiello) July 16, 2022

lol the lack of capitalization and the word processor recommendation lines are hilarious. Trying to make it look like something he just whipped up to express his true feelings. I hope this becomes a meme.

Anyway the actual content of his response is basically just a nicer way to say what he already said. Addresses how gamers reacted to the news but doesn't do anything for devs that understood his point and just didn't like it.