Unity: “We are trying to become the only option for those who create in the digital space”

Pictured: Clive Downey

What difficulties is Unity facing now?

Well, let’s say there are no difficulties – we are facing opportunities. And there are more opportunities now than ever. More and more people are playing games. There are more and more new development platforms. And there are more and more new technologies that stimulate the creative process. There are VR and AR, plus Unity already supports 25 platforms, and this number is growing. And we also have 1.5 million developers every month. Yes, everything is not easy – but we believe that we are not facing difficulties, but opportunities.

I will describe the situation in a little more detail. When dealing with such a huge ecosystem, one of the main tasks is to maintain a stable level of quality in all areas. And that’s where Unity may have run into some problems in the last six months. But we recognize that they exist, and we are working to solve them. This is probably the only area where we are experiencing difficulties. But we are working on it.

The company is a leader in the engine market. But there are no AAA projects on Unity. Why do you think this happens?

What about Firewatch or Hearthstone?

I see what you’re getting at.

Users do not perceive Unity as an engine for AAA games. This is such an “engine for everyone”. Maybe that’s the whole point. After all, what is an AAA title is a game that collects good reviews and earns a lot of money. This is a subjective definition, but that’s how many perceive AAA. In fact, a lot of games made on Unity meet these characteristics. The thing is that they are not perceived that way. Because along with such games, there are many other projects that either did not collect good criticism, or did not earn money, or both. This, I think, happens because the community of developers on Unity is very large. There are engine manufacturers whose audience is not so extensive. A very small number of developers work with their engines. And so it turns out that all these developers are very cool. Therefore, people think that cool games are made on this engine. When you have 1.5 million developers, some of them make great games. Many of them make games that collect great reviews. So the thing is that users simply do not perceive Unity as an engine for cool games.

Do you think this can be called a disadvantage of democratization?

I would say that this perception is a direct consequence of the fact that we are the “engine for everyone”. It is believed that you can’t make a cool game on Unity. But this is not the case.

According to David Helgason, the democratization of Unity will be considered complete only when it is no more difficult to make a game than to shoot a video. But not every smartphone user with a camera is James Cameron. And not a single YouTube video has received an Oscar yet. Aren’t you afraid that such democratization will lower the standards of the industry?

There is a big difference between a tool for everyone and a tool for individual cool professionals. We’d rather be an engine for everyone – and let the creativity of our users speak for itself. Our engine is quite suitable for making AAA games on it. I have already given examples. This is a very powerful engine. It suits professionals. But it is also suitable for beginners. And the result always depends on the skill of those who use it.

Here’s an example: you can put a child behind the wheel of a Ferrari. And he will probably start driving very slowly or even crash the car. And you can put a Formula 1 racer behind the wheel. And then he will win the race. All in the same Ferrari.

On the question of mastery: Unity has launched a developer certification program. In your opinion, such an innovation will not increase the threshold of entry into the profession for developers?

We are not going to forcibly certify everyone. The certificate is just another way to understand what a job applicant is like.

But doesn’t this mean that everyone will want their applicants to have certificates? If there is a choice, I want to choose the best specialist.

I think a certificate is just another way to confirm competence. This is not the most important thing. The main thing that is required of the applicant is examples of works. Show me what you can do.

Portfolio.

Yes, you need to show what you can do. The problem is that almost everyone has a good portfolio. And often you need something else besides this portfolio, just to demonstrate that you also have knowledge of theory. Let’s say you have five candidates in front of you, and each has an excellent portfolio. But only one has a certificate. And it is this certificate that can help you make a decision. This is how the situation looks from the point of view of the employer. If you look at it from the point of view of a developer, then a certificate can help you get a job. Moreover, with its help, you can continue to hone your skills. Since the engine is constantly evolving, you need to be aware of updates. Let’s say you want to make a game on 5.3, and you only worked on 4.5. In this case, you may want to learn something new about the engine to become more advanced. And then the certification program will come to the rescue.

Let’s now talk about new subscription plans. Before the new plans appeared, the user had three options: free (Unity Personal), subscription (Unity Pro) and perpetual Unity Pro license. At a conference in Amsterdam, you reported that Unity is “adding new license payment options.” But there is a feeling that nothing has changed – there is still a subscription, there is a free version and there is a perpetual license, which is now called Pay to Own. So what really changed?

The Pay to Own version is slightly different from the perpetual license. That one didn’t have an expiration date. Plus, the work with the perpetual license was built in two stages. You buy an engine and use it. But then updates come out. And here we inform you that for the money that you have already paid, you also get these updates. In the case of Pay to Own, you make an advance payment and get the right to use the engine in the next 2-3 years. Once the contract has expired, the engine remains with you. But you won’t get any updates to it. As a result, some of the new services will not work for you. This is the difference from a perpetual license: in the case of a perpetual license, the user had access to all services. And up until the new version of the engine was released, the user received all the updates. And then he just paid us anew for a new iteration. That is, summing up: is Pay to Own similar to a perpetual license? Yes. But it’s not the same.

What’s the idea with Pay to Own and subscription plans anyway? Why did Unity need them?

We decided to switch to a subscription for several reasons at once. Firstly, this is happening all over the world right now. So the idea itself is accessible and understandable to most users. And most of those who do not yet belong to our users. This is a well-known option, unlike a perpetual license. Therefore, that option did not suit the company. The second reason is that we believe that the subscription is combined with the way we will now release updates. Previously, working with Unity was built around large phased updates. The engine has changed seriously – from 1 iteration to 2, from 2 to 3, from 3 to 4, from 4 to 5. Now working with Unity is built differently. Over the past 14 months, we have been releasing much smoother releases. And a subscription is just right for this option, so we are switching to it. The second reason brings us back to what I have already mentioned. Our engine is used by 1.5 million people on 25 platforms every month. And all these users need the most advanced technologies. The market is changing rapidly – you can’t afford to wait a whole year to get access to these new technologies. That’s why we’re switching to a subscription. However, for some users, the transition is not easy. For those who have previously developed for only one platform, this is not easy, since prices have increased.

Yes, Twitter is full of such questions! People who developed for one platform used to pay $75 for Unity Personal. And now they will have to pay almost twice as much, and they naturally wonder why this is so.

Not twice as much, but plus $50. This is not twice as much as before. Besides, no one forces them to pay. You can also stay on a subscription for $75 until 2018. So both they and we have time. We have it to come up with features that these users will like.

And when exactly will I have to switch to the new subscription model? If, for example, I buy Unity Pro for $75 on June 14, I will have to pay $125 the next day (innovations in subscription plans come into effect on June 15, – approx. editorial offices)?

You can stay with Unity Pro until June 2018.

What then?

Then, of course, we would like you to switch to another model. And we will give you time for that.

And if I don’t want to switch to a new model? Will my subscription be canceled?

We are now talking about what will happen in 23 months. During this time, I think our users will see the benefits of new subscription plans. Maybe at some point the thought will come to your mind: “It would be nice to port my game to another platform.” So you will decide that subscription options with a large number of platforms are quite suitable for you. This is one of the scenarios. Another option is that you still stay on the same platform, but in 23 months Unity has been creating a bunch of cool features in the field of new technologies, in the field of VR and AR. Therefore, you eventually agree to pay extra for them. Well, the third option is that your game has not earned more than $ 100 thousand, so you start using the Personal version (to use the free version of Unity Personal, the studio should not earn more than $ 100 thousand a year, – approx. editorial offices). We’ll just have to put up with the fact that there is a Splash Screen (In fact, I don’t understand why the developers don’t want to put our logo in the game. Especially since the engine is free. After all, people drive a car with the manufacturer’s logo, and nothing!). I described optimistic scenarios. But there is also a bad option – you still remain on the same platform, new subscription plans do not suit you, and you do not want to pay money. Well, in that case, let’s try to negotiate. Or you can still take the free version.

Speaking of Unity Personal: How does this plan differ from Unity Plus? Both plans have a revenue limit, both plans give access to different platforms. What’s the difference?

Unity Plus has additional features. A set of assets from the Asset Store, multiplayer support, priority in accessing Cloud Build. And with this subscription, users get a month of free classes on the Unity certification program. But we will see how this plan is accepted by users. Let’s listen to the reviews. The plan will change. Maybe we’ll raise the revenue limit or redo the Splash Screen. Let’s listen to our users – we always do that.

Let’s talk about prospects. Over the past few years, the engine market has changed a lot. Unreal Engine has become almost free (not counting royalties, of course). Crytek posted the code in the public domain. Amazon is developing its own engine. And King, too. How does Unity see its place in such a competitive market?

Competition is useful. Primarily for users. Unity has grown and continues to grow. There is a huge community of developers who prefer Unity to all other engines. And this is our strength. Because if you are just starting to work with the engine, you want to learn from someone else’s example, you want to have somewhere to learn. You want to learn how to make the most of the engine. And the larger the community, the easier it is to achieve these goals. This is the strength of Unity, and we continue to develop it. Another advantage of the engine is that it supports a huge number of platforms. So the Unity user has a choice. And finally, we are constantly investing in new technologies. For example, we are leaders in VR and AR. That is, we are not just a 2D engine, not just a mobile engine. We are constantly moving forward. And also – we are free, honestly, without fools. And, of course, everything we do is somehow connected with the democratization of development.

In addition to total democratization, what are the company’s immediate goals? You have already released Unity Ads and Unity Analytics, plus you have turned Unity from a simple game engine into an entire ecosystem. What is the next step in conquering the world?

Democratization of development is our constant goal. We haven’t reached it yet. But we continue to go to it in many directions at once. The other day we launched Unity Connect – something like a job search portal. And this is another example of how we bring developers together. So we’re not trying to conquer the world. We are just trying to become the only option for those who create in the digital space.

The editors of App2Top would like to thank Tatiana Vikulova, Head of the PR and Communications Department at the Eastern European branch of Unity Technologies, for her help in preparing the interview.