#where the money goes

[askagamedev]

About Unity these past few days

A lot of people have asked me about Unity and their strange new per-install charges policy that they rolled out on September 12th, 2023. I wanted to give them at least 24 hours before I posted my take on it - let the dust settle a bit so I could get a chance to read the new policy properly and all that. First, however, I think we need to take a step back and get a wider perspective. Unity Software Inc. is in some serious financial trouble. Here are their operating numbers from 2019 to 2023.

The blue line here is how much money they take in and the red line is the amount of money they are spending each year. You may notice that they are spending significantly more money year over year than they earn. In fact, over the past 12 months alone (August 2022 to August 2023), Unity Software Inc. has lost almost $1 billion.

In 2022, Unity spent four times as much money as they did in 2019. If they had managed to keep costs at double their spending in 2019, they still would have earned $243 million in profit. Instead, they lost $882 million in 2022.

Where does all of this cost come from? In any software company like Unity, the vast vast majority of costs comes from employee salaries. And we can directly see it in Unity's number of employees:

Unity Software Inc. more than tripled its headcount from 2019 to 2022, and it did all of this hiring during the pandemic while competing with many many other developers all trying to hire from the same pool. I don't work for Unity, but I was in the market and I had lots of recruiters trying to recruit me during that time.

In short, Unity is suffering from the same miscalculation that Embracer Group did, that EA did, that Activision-Blizzard did, that Square-Enix did, and just about everybody else in the tech industry - they misjudged the good times at the beginning of the pandemic, overspent hiring people thinking the good times would last, and are now scrambling to figure out how to survive. The difference is that Unity was getting all of their operating money from Venture Capitalists (VCs) hoping that they would eventually become profitable, but VC money has all but dried up because it's become much more expensive to borrow money over the past two years.

As a result, the Unity executives are likely grasping at straws in hopes of saving a sinking ship. This wild and decidedly senseless pricing plan is their (seemingly-desperate) attempt to juice their revenues. It really makes very little sense from the developer perspective, which is what makes the whole thing reek of desperation. That isn't greed talking, it's survival. My guess is that Unity is currently desperately looking for a buyer to save them and doing whatever they can to buy themselves some more runway. They already announced layoffs back in May, but I suspect they'll probably have to announce some really big layoffs (e.g. 40-50%) soon. Unity Software Inc. is living on borrowed time and they know it.

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[doodle-empress66]

Minor spoiler

but I was not expecting a reference to the jokes about that Val money counting scene from Addict

[rottengurlz]

she’s like if the virgin mary smoked a pack of pall malls every day 🚬

[yuwuta]

olympics coming up…… athlete aus on the mind….. satoru as a swimmer….. unreasonably large wingspan…. huge hands..... thinks “official” competitions and tournaments are boring because he can’t use the goofy purple googly eyes goggles he likes to practice in…… practices at ungodly hours solely because he likes when the pool is empty because that means you’ll dip your feet in at the edge and be there to greet him with a kiss when he’s finished his laps….. they bring up the stats board and it’s just his name ten times before the next fastest person and he could still lap them, and even tho he’ll always put so much pressure on himself to be the best, it’s worth it to have you hold his face and tell him you’re proud of him... he’s gotten so much merch from events and sponsorships and he used to think they just created clutter but that all changes when you start to wear his clothes (esp the ones with his name on it… he’s not proud to admit that does Something to him)…. always looks up to the stands when he finishes a race and if he knows you’re not there, he looks right at the camera, draws an infinity sign with his fingers, and blows a kiss (which, some commentators routinely call “unsportsmanlike conduct” but he doesn’t care, and always, publicly says he’ll pay the fees if it means blowing a kiss to his girl at home)

[lilyimmsim]

the crows would have absolutely loved monopoly

[puppyeared]

happy valentines day <3 i wanted to do more, but sadly i only had enough time to complete these two

please also don't forget Rafah is under attack and urgently needs help. you can buy esims, check the BDS boycott list, click the daily donation button and email your representatives (USA).

there will also be a global strike february 18 - 24.

[saltpepperbeard]

gnawing on my arm because i think there's something to be said about how stede not only dreams about himself with a beard, but ed with his full beard back too. like, the dream seems to be riddled with imagery that he thinks ed would want.

and i say this especially because of how stede reacted when ed had to shave his beard. he freaked out on his behalf. he shrieked in horror whereas ed was entirely unbothered. he feared he had ruined him, had dragged him down to some despicable level, when in actuality, ed was completely content to shed that part of his persona.

and then there he is dreaming about ed with that part right on back.

so there's very clearly still a part of his mind that's convinced that's what ed wants. because why wouldn't he? everyone else seems to. and why would he want the softness and femininity stede had been bullied for his entire life?

which in turn plays into his own imagery too. bearded, masculine, fiercesome, rugged...

because how could someone love what everyone has hated him for? how could someone want what everyone has tried to quite literally beat out of him?

[notbecauseofvictories]

very strongly feel that moist/adora is the only actual romantic relationship terry pratchett ever wrote.

[weirdocat83]

Been really hoping to find some sort of college/dorm au where all the main arcane characters have to live in close proximity to each other. Mostly because it sounds like it’d be pure chaos and hilarity. The council members or main leaders of the undercity could be the faculty while the students are the “kids” of the show.

Jinx and Vi happen to be the adopted kids of one of the most well liked teachers/profs (vander) and have a few friends who aren’t adopted but might as well be (Claggor and Mylo) tho recently he adopted another kid after Jinx found her on the street (isha) and they are practically bonded at the hip. Especially since isha has been a HUGE help to Jinx’s mental health.

I think it’d be neat if Vander were in a car crash that almost kills them all. Powder was the one that unintentionally caused the crash by distracting Vander while he was driving. Vander goes into a coma, and Vi is understandably pissed and scared and it’s mostly aimed at powder. Vi stays by Vander’s bedside. Luckily, things weren’t too bad and he woke up within a month but powder and mostly Vi honestly, needed time apart. Powder went to live with Silco [they had their arguments but after seeing Vander almost die with his kids? Everything seemed a little childish after that] and Vi stayed with Vander. They spent a few years apart with their own lives with only occasional interaction until they wanted to reconcile and reconnect. It wasn’t easy and sometimes things are still weird but for the most part, things are good!

Jayce, Mel and Viktor all held off on college because of other issues they needed to take care of so they’re older than the rest of the cast. Mel was the death of her brother. She didn’t take it well and the family was going through issues as it was so Mel was sent out of state to college where she could have new experiences and meet new people. Viktor mostly had health issues that have been lessened but not eradicated (singed is his doctor. He works in experimental new ways of treating disease. This was mainly to cure his daughter). At the very least he can get a degree now. He got in on scholarship btw. Jayce was working for the Kirammans since high school but in order to move to a higher positions he needs a degree. He’s attending on their sponsorship.

Jinx skipped two grades so technically she’s ekko’s upperclassman even though she’s the same age. She will lord this over him so long as they’re both alive.

Idk I like the idea of all of them living relatively happily and generally annoying the shit out of each other. I mean, imagine jinx playing pranks on Jayce and not really knowing whether she likes Viktor or thinks his life advice is annoying. She enjoys tinkering with him and Ekko tho. Meanwhile ekko is possibly getting hunted down the second vi realizes that he’s dating her sister. Jinx isn’t sure whether to be amused and happy or concerned for ekko’s wellbeing. Similarly, when jinx found out Vi was dating Cait, she didn’t react well. They fought a lot when they first met. And Jinx’s insecurity over being replaced didn’t help. They worked it out eventually and have since bonded over shooting guns and lightly bullying Vi. Also Jayce and Viktor and Mel are all in a weird spot romantically. Up to you whether they all just date each other or fight for Jayce. Either way, their getting together is messy.

I will say that sometimes things just explode in the middle of the night and people have stopped questioning it ever since they set up a communication system that just assures them that it’s not anything dangerous. Usually it’s Jinx blowing things up but it’s often Ekko and Viktor. Also if you fall asleep in a common area you have to accept that you will get your face painted on. Caitlyn is So Done with people leaving their projects out on the common tables also.

Jayce and Vi regularly meet up to work out together and punch the shit out of each other. Meanwhile Caitlyn and Mel have tea together and talk shit abt people.

Viktor is the capybara of the friend group. Everyone is ok with him at the very least but as such he can and will roast any and everyone if prompted. Mel and Caitlyn are usually the ones with the collective brain cell. Ekko is not because when out in the same room as 3 other scientists just as unhinged as he is if not more so and 2 people more responsible than him, all sense of leadership dies.

[mel-kusanagi]

another dimension

you take me away from reality.

[askagamedev]

I've heard from friends that there's no reason for companies to shut down game/store servers because "it doesn't really cost them anything to keep it up", which feels wrong to me given how readily console makers are to close up features of older consoles that wouldn't conflict with newer ones. Is upkeep really that cheap?

Here's the thing - your friends are kind of right but also mostly wrong at the same time. In terms of technology and such, they are correct - running a server process in the cloud today is pretty cheap. We pay for how much CPU time our processes end up using and old games don't use up that much since there aren't that many players, so the cost of running the server itself is not that high.

However...

There are significantly more costs to running a game (especially a service game) than simply keeping the server running. That's where your friends are wrong.

Imagine, for example, a longtime player gets hacked and the hacker deletes her character and items. What is the player's recourse? Submit a ticket to customer service and get it resolved, right? Now we need to keep at least one customer service agent on the service to handle things like refunds, user mistakes, and so on. What if the server crashes? We'll need somebody to handle server maintenance. What if somebody discovers an exploit that severely harms the player experience? I guess we need a programmer who knows how to fix things. If there's any development to be done, there will also need to be production (to keep tasks prioritized and tracked) and QA (to validate fixes).

Remember, the vast majority of the costs of game development are the salaries and benefits paid out to the people working on and maintaining the game. Even a small skeleton crew costs hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in salary, benefits, taxes, equipment, rent, and so on. So... upkeep for the server processes really is that cheap. But keeping an entire game running is absolutely not that cheap. When the service can't afford to pay for its own upkeep - including the salaries of all of the people needed to keep the service running - then it gets shut down.

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[sergle]

yall are about to piss me off by not having any PASSING basic knowledge of the way the u.s. military manipulates its recruits into joining by typing up one of your uninformed, unresearched, unempathetic, individualistic, unbelievably annoying posts about how 100% of the people in the military ended up there because they just Love America So Damn Much! they're extremely mature and informed at time of recruitment, they can totally leave anytime they want, they totally had tons of other avenues in life they could've taken, there was no rush at all to get income as fast as possible, and everyone in the military also totally is part of the combat divisions and personally enjoys being IN the military very much, big believers of violence. everyone in the military is shooting guns all day, that's how that works. they LOVE BLOODSHED. also I love the "amewicans haha" twang to this type of shit because you're actually TOTALLY stealing our Thing, which is turning systemic issues into Individual Issues. Instead of talking about the powers that be, it's so Personal Choice up in here. It's, "well you shouldn't have done it then. I totally wouldn't because I know better." you don't wanna talk about the military industrial complex as a whole, and you don't want to talk about recruiters, you just want to pin the blame on Specific Individual People one-by-one, as if they're responsible for the system that they're being ground up in. someone was in the military? bad person, no matter what. it's easier to believe that, I guess, than to acknowledge that Normal People (with high school educations) are manipulated and incentivized into joining a system that is Bad. at like age 18. but yeah no that 18 year old should have just been smarter lol haha anyway here are some screenshots for no particular reason

side note this reply of someone going "umm just get loans and go into a high paying field it's easy XD" as a direct response to someone trying to explain how most americans joining the military are being funneled in that direction out of a need for money.

and another person who Decided that americans join the military just CLENCHING their teeth thinking of other people, and not thinking completely selfishly about their own selves and their own income/housing/healthcare.

[remcocoa]

it’s official

[genericpuff]

"it's only been 3 months, of course we haven't turned a profit yet" - implied Webtoons in their recent Q2 meeting following their Wall Street debut

"it's only been 3 months, what do you mean the lawyers are already here" - I choked out as I was informed of the vultures circling WT's dying corpse from above

(literally just google "webtoons investigation" and you'll come across multiple articles covering different firms with the exact same claims and ongoing investigations)

Now let's not get ahead of ourselves, vultures are vultures, as soon as one smells blood the rest of them tend to circle in to get their own place in line. At this stage, it's simply legal firms that specialize in the investment sector sliding their cards across the table towards WT's investors like, "heeeey, give us a call if you, y'know... don't make your money back in the next three months :) or the three months after that :) we can make the money happen, for a price :)"

That said, whichever vulture honed in first, I don't think they would have followed the scent if they weren't at least somewhat confident there was something to feast on. Then again, I'm not a lawyer, nor am I involved in the complex world of investing and /r/wallstreetbets, but what I can confidently say is... of course Webtoons isn't hitting their projections, this is a company that historically operates at a loss, it says so right in their own IPO documentation. This isn't even some hush hush secret anymore whispered among creators who are privileged to that information or readers who can only take their best guesses, it's now literally official that Webtoons is historically bad at making money. And now in their attempts to save themselves, they've now put themselves in debt not only to Daddy Naver, but to all the eager investors who expected this to be their next big payout. And it's hilarious.

But what isn't hilarious is how this is undoubtedly affecting the creators on the platform, both Originals and greenlit Canvas creators who are currently working their asses off to launch their series. And so I want to make it very clear that as much as I'm currently taunting Webtoons much like the Road Runner taunted Wile E. Coyote's increasingly absurd stunts that always backfired tenfold, I also have the immense privilege of not being in the shoes of those who are witnessing this and fearing they'll be losing their jobs and opportunities.

To the people who are in those positions, I have the utmost respect for what you're currently facing. You're all investors in your own right, looking down the same barrel as the Wall Street betters who are realizing Webtoons' lied to them. You're investing your time, your efforts, your work, your creative rights, your physical bodies and mental health into Webtoons with the expectation that it will payoff. And as we've seen from many creators who have come out on the other side burnt out and often poorer than they were when they went in, that payoff doesn't exist 99% of the time.

So, with the privilege that I have as someone who's not contracted with Webtoons and isn't bound by an NDA and knows fully well how much Webtoons hates their public image being laughed at... my inbox is always open and the anon button is always turned on. Do with that what you will. And know that if you're someone who's currently trying to find a way out of Webtoons, remember the power you have. Their platform is nothing without you.

[hoofpeet]

qhat if Sugar had a bunch of different humansonas for different occasions 

[mirakurutaimu]

twitch takes half my paychecks and they still gotta lay off 35% of their workers? hmm interesting