Unity has changed its terms, meaning a Pro license or Preferred Platform License Key will be needed to continue developing games for Xbox - something Microsoft reportedly does not offer to developers.
The report comes from Gamasutra, which claims the keys are gifted to developers by Nintendo and Sony, but Microsoft doesn't offer the same privilege. As a result, creators would need to purchase a Pro license to continue developing games for Xbox systems, which retails at $1,800 per year.
"A Unity spokesperson confirmed to Gamasutra that the change took place, explaining that 'developing for consoles is a complex undertaking for any studio and Unity has always recommended Unity Pro for development on these platforms.'
The spokesperson also stressed that the change is for new developers working on new platform-approved projects that update to the 2021.2 tech stream. If your game is currently in development on an older version of Unity, you don’t need Unity Pro at this time.'
A Microsoft spokesperson spoke to the publication about the changes, but failed to confirm whether the company would be issuing its own Preferred Platform License Key program for developers.
“We will continue to work with our development partners and engine providers, including Unity, to determine how to best support creators on Xbox.”
“[Microsoft is] deeply committed to independent developers and with our prioritization of the community accelerating, ensuring they have a clear path to success on Xbox and Windows.”
If developers are forced to purchase the license then this could mean certain games, especially indies, fail to make it to the Xbox platform. Hopefully the situation is resolved in a way that ensures developers can easily create their games for Xbox via Unity, as it would be a real shame to miss out on potential future releases.
How do you feel about the changes to Unity's policy affecting Xbox? Drop us a comment and let us know.
[source gamasutra.com]
Comments 15
Seems like a licensing and legal issue. Xbox has been pushing indies harder than Playstation so I don't think it's likely they'll start becoming the expensive to develop for platform any time soon. But there's some kind of confusing period ahead for devs it looks like.
Pretty stupid it got to this point. Spencer don't ruin the good will you have fought to build up for Xbox.
Looks like Unity pulled the rug out from Microsoft in order to re-negotiate their pricing. Pretty shifty tactics.
@Deadcow Unity's current CEO is EA's old CEO, so they're well known to be incumbent. I like how beginner friendly the Unity engine is, Unreal does offer visual programming but at the end of the day C# isn't nearly as intimidating as C++. But Unity has a knack for being slow to fix bugs in the engine. And I have a feeling it's due to not hiring enough developers. And it's pretty clear this is an attempt to fleece Sony, Nintendo, and MS of their money.
@uptownsoul I agree if Sony was doing this everyone would be banging on about pro consumerism.
That said, this is likely something that MS will quickly negotiate through so I dont think backlash over it is really needed.
Honestly, Unity would make more money from royalties if Xbox devs got it free rather than full price as it would be a more attractive deal...
Nothing quite says "Unity" like "give us more money."
> ...keys are gifted to developers by Nintendo and Sony...
Microsoft may want to consider adopting a similar policy...
The keys that Sony/Nintendo “gift” are actual preferred license keys not “PRO” keys. At least the ones by Sony, couldn’t find Nintendo. They are given out when Sony “certifies” you as a Dev. (1) It’s really not a “gift” but a part of the cert process. MS instead built the features into the Dev Kit; you still had to register with MS as a potential Dev, buy the dev kit etc. It just came with the kit. Thus it circumvented the need for “Keys”.
What Unity changed was forcing the need for keys starting in June. They also still
Mention in their support documents that MS has it built into the kit. It leads me to believe they as in Unity are closing what they probably feel as “loopholes”.
(1) https://support.unity.com/hc/en-us/articles/212064606-How-do-I-develop-to-PlayStation-platforms-
Also in case I didn’t make it clear from my post this change pretty much only affects potential Xbox devs as Sony and Nintendo (Pretty sure) have preferred license key programs set up with Unity. (And who develops for Stadia…) anyway Unity obviously knew Sony/Nintendo had programs, and they most likely wanted to secure the same sort of program with MS.
This is a bit frustrating but I would still pursue Unity over Unreal at this time. If you don’t have the presence to negotiate with Unreal, you are going to be bound to a royalty agreement that might cost a LOT of money through the life of the game.
I always prefer to pay up-front.
I don't understand why people choose Unity over UE anyway. UE gives you everything you need out of the box. Blueprints. It's easier to get visually impressive results. It performs better. It's cheap for indies unless you make bank on your game, which would be life changing anyway.
Almost every Unity game I own, I can tell it's a Unity game by looking at it. I can also tell by the stuttering I usually get as well. Simple Unity based indie games shouldn't be stuttering on 2080ti's, but I've seen it too often.
@SpacemanJupiter unity is free with no string attached for PC development, even if you “break bank”. Yes, if you make more than 100k a year on your business you need to pay for its use but by then you already shipped and you don’t need to keep paying (unless you need/want to make patches, but by then you decided you want to keep doing this.)
It is also way easier to use, that actually leads to more novice developers making games on it by just slapping assets together that look samey and/or perform terribly, but we still get games like Ori, Cuphead, Ghost of a Tail and Soulstorm.
End of the day it isn’t the tool that will determine if final product is good, but whom is making the game. The choice of engine is mostly a choice of business model. Even if it was life changing and I had a million dollars, I still rather not owe a percentage of my revenue to a company for the rest of my life.
And there’s been an update-
Basically, Sony, Nintendo, and Google all use the preferred “keys” program; it’s just MS that doesn’t.
“ In the past, closed platform partners like Sony (for PlayStation®), Nintendo (for Switch), Microsoft (for Xbox), and Google (for Stadia) have all provided a preferred platform license key for approved games and developers on their respective platforms. Today, this is still true for Sony, Nintendo, and Google. If you are working on an already-approved project for Xbox (prior to June 30, 2021), you will not have to purchase Unity Pro to finish and publish your project to the platform.”
https://www.reddit.com/r/Unity3D/comments/oy2sc3/unity_pro_is_now_a_requirement_to_publish_on/h7tud2e/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
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