The Unity Disaster

[@goldbondmedicatedfoodpowder]

This is by FAR my favorite channel discovered recently. Thanks Laura!

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you!

[@xandr4870]

Seconded

[@nask0]

same

[@cm-zo3ye]

Same.

[@Vincent_Thatch]

​@@laurafryer6321I'd be very interested to know what you think of Star Citizen and Squadron 42 development when the v4.0 release is out.

[@DarthDad186]

No KZbinr out there has your perspective on this industry. Really enjoying your content. Learned about the channel from Destins recent video.

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you for your kind comments!

[@cl8804]

nt

[@rafamore9912]

Man i cant believe this level of insight into the industry is free So happy to have found this channel

[@JasonSmith-pn6ch]

To be honest, the pricing announcement, to me, takes a back seat to the fact top heads at Unity sold millions worth of stock a week prior to the announcement. That goes beyond a mistake, miscalculation or error, that's downright shady to it's core.

[@ceci_ferrando]

It's refreshing to hear a balanced, well explained take on this issue. It's clear you know the industry very well, and your perspective is much appreciated. Just subscribed!

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you!

[@Cloud-Yo]

wow, Im glad the algorithm gods suggested this channel...awesome content!

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you!

[@deathproof8732]

John Ricitiello must be removed if they want to see trust coming back

[@keldencowan]

This. I stopped using Unity a year ago after the layoffs/gigaya/ironsource debacles. Employees saying: "Even after all the chaos, a few of us chose to be loyal to the work. It seems like our loyalty became a liability.” This latest drama isn't the problem, it's the symptom of something deeper that doesn't seem like it's changing.

[@damnedlegionaire]

Agreed. Imagine hiring a guy to run your company who got axed from EA for being too greedy.

[@TheBuzzSaw]

Wish granted.

[@damnedlegionaire]

@@TheBuzzSaw He's gone?

[@TheBuzzSaw]

@@damnedlegionaire Yes

[@nask0]

I can't believe I am able to hear your thoughts on those issues, you are such a legend in the industry. Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts and for this channel as a whole, as a single indie game developer it's immensly helpful to me.

[@laurafryer6321]

I'm glad you're finding the videos helpful. Thank you!

[@Conner06]

Really hope you continue your channel. Super informative and a very good breakdowns.

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you for your kind words!

[@Pers0n97]

I'm surprised it's even legal for them to retroactively change business model like that.

[@Unknown-jt1jo]

I'm sure the terms of service stipulated that.

[@DS-ss1gm]

You do a fantastic job explaining things. Great to hear the perspective of someone with your credentials. Going to be fun watching your channel grow.

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you!

[@marconeves1979]

I am noticing a trend of people being afraid to talk and say what they really feel. This is happening at all industries. How can we have communication if everyone is always either lying or omitting?

[@laurafryer6321]

I agree. I think it's one of the reasons for games failing. People either aren't being open or feel they can't.

[@marconeves1979]

@@laurafryer6321 Indeed. Unfortunate, but true. Keep doing what you're doing though. I love your work, and your videos, and insight.

[@bunnerkins]

I'm gonna echo what everyone else is saying here - what a fantastic channel. I built a career in clinical research regulation. My love language is SOPs. I use the dry language of procedure/methodology/industry best practice to season my food. I fucking NEEDED this channel. I LOVE THIS.

[@bunnerkins]

"Career limiting move" - wow. That resonated with me. It's hard to describe how deep that hits. I've had those words spoken to me too, ostensibly by people who cared about me and my success. Still not sure what to make of those words.

[@laurafryer6321]

Interesting to hear you've had a similar experience. Thank you for sharing!

[@Galerius_Prime]

I would love to see a video that address the kind of experience and education that could earn you a career in this field. But I am loving all of your videos so far. Amazing content and awesome insight.

[@BlueAizu_]

I'm but a humble indie dev with big dreams/an anime guy on the internet who loves games and happened to stumble upon this channel just by chance. I think it's incredible to hear an insider's prospective on Unity's situation, let alone someone who's been making decades' worth of important decisions for multiple brands! I feel completely starstruck right now. I feel terrible for the developers on Unity's frontlines, and the developers who've been relying on Unity for years. Not just for games, either, there's also a number of non-game applications that use Unity. All of those years of hard work and goodwill feel like they've just been _annihilated_ in one fell swoop. In light of this news I wish the best for the developers involved, but I don't know if I can trust Unity enough to use it for any projects I'll want to do going forward, and that's both frustrating and extremely depressing.

[@laurafryer6321]

Agreed. Such a tough situation for developers.

[@ChubAdmiral]

Thank you for doing these videos. I'm a corporate DevOps engineer. It's lovely learning about other similar things to my profession and job, through the lens of the video game industry which is my other passion. You seem to have had an enviable career, and its amazing, how much influence you've actually had over a lot of our lives, and our hobbies around us, without ever me (us) ever realising it.

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you! I'm glad you are enjoying the videos!

[@fearmonkey]

When i first heard about this, i looked up unity, saw the name John Riccitiello, and thought "yeah, i can see how this happened now". They need to hire you!

[@guyjackson4165]

Just discovered your channel Laura (I binged it all over a couple of hours!) and it’s great to get these insights from someone with real experience in the industry. Looking forward to more videos.

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you! Glad you liked them!

[@ShoFuturistic]

This has very quickly become one of my favorite channels. The insight is incredible.

Thanks for this. It's very hard to have someone speaking the truth in this market. I had no idea about a lot of things, and you have a very directly way to talk about it.

[@laurafryer6321]

Glad it's been helpful!

[@brentbentKRFP]

Just discovered you today, watched all your videos, I don't even work in the tech industry or even adjacent to it but I do love scifi and following the evolution of technology and how it comes about. Funny enough, we've come to the same conclusions that love, caring about your work and a safe positive environment is the key to successful companies and civilizations.

[@laurafryer6321]

Exactly!

[@noisecrime]

Something to note is Marc Whitten was also the chief product officer at Microsoft for the xbox one. I've no idea how much input he had on the aspects that tanked that reveal/launch, but the lack of understanding and ignoring of customers requirements sounds familiar.

[@Inf4mousKidGames]

Considering Marc is a Unity co-founder I wonder how he managed while working at Microsoft. cause the engine was put into motion in 2005 so I'm now curious about this latest info

[@mrpedantic]

One year later: Everything got blamed on JR, who by all accounts had an outsized ability to sell everything and seemed adamant that Unity needed to compete with Unreal head-on instead of leveraging their position (and owning the low-end as opposed to the high-end of the game engines, despite being better positioned for mobile and VR, didn't seem like enough leverage,) they made too many acquisitions that they failed to integrate, and sent JR home with his golden parachute. But, maybe now they've got a way forward that makes sense.

[@theorixlux]

Shooting themselves in the foot. Really. That was insane.

[@crackwh0re911]

Love your view and comments on the industry. Avoiding hyperbole and bs. Just clean cut. Good to see!

[@rayschram3399]

I really enjoy your channel. Particularly, I like the way that your criticisms are always oriented towards positive solutions based on experience. It always feels like you are celebrating the value of games and the right approach that went into them. Thank you!

[@veigar1235]

oh my god... the best thing i did today is discovering this channel❤

[@aldirnila6215]

I don't see how they would regain trust unless the CEO (and other people responsible for that) are removed. Even then, it will be challenging and maybe too late if they already had money issues.

[@keepmoving1185]

I work in cybersecurity, but your blog is so valuable in understanding all development shops! Thank you

[@jondoe1444]

You clearly underestimate john riccitielo's level of greed.

[@GabrielRUrbina]

Thanks for sharing your expertise and insight. These videos are excellent, I'm happy that I found your channel

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you!

[@rhestassured5533]

Refreshing seems to be the word the other comments are using. I definitely concur. Your presentation method gives off a “60 Minutes” structure and I look forward to more content and possible interviews in the future.

[@muncus9599]

The credibility that Laura brings to her videos is wildly refreshing. She has a huge wealth of knowledge and experience making her takes far more substantive and interesting IMO.

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you!

[@xandr4870]

Utterly fascinating hearing perspectives from someone so central in the industry! It’s like being an insider to an industry one had only viewed from afar

[@PhazonBlaxor]

Who is she? CEO of some huge game conpany?

[@tubey84]

As soon as John Riccitiello went to Unity I honestly expected this. EA culture - screw the fans/users, we want money. The fact he was hired spoke to Unity's business aims.

[@brianpwnsjustin]

Would you ever consider making a podcast? Can't wait for more content, your story telling is concise yet gripping.

[@tedpikul1]

This is fantastic content. Wish there was more like this one on KZbin! Facts, experience, insight. Feels good.

[@laurafryer6321]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for watching!

[@StigDesign]

Great video and Great view, really nice to hear from some one in the industry :D and its so true what you say. i hope you continue to make videos and about your history/story in the industry too :D

[@Immorpher]

Competition is only real when these companies are allowed to fail and go under. It's weird that it is acceptable that us as people have to accept real consequences, sometimes become homeless, and sometimes die. But these companies with horrid work culture are allowed to continue. Often a vacuum is needed for a higher quality competitor to rise for the betterment of the consumer and the workers as well.

[@MungeParty]

Key word in the intro is "several" which is frankly an overstatement.

[@RoBoTNiKaa]

Thank you Dustin I’m hear listening 👍

[@kitastro]

this scuffed mic sounds so nice... XD "Slog through some printer driver code for money" XD golden

[@XCORINTHIAN]

Great channel. Do you have any insight into what happened with The Callisto Protocol and Striking Distance Studio?

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you! I've seen a few articles about it.

[@TheCybercoco]

Truly, the best videos about the gaming industry I've ever seen (and I've seen a lot). So much wisdom. Kudos.

[@adamtobin9440]

Timothy Cain just put out a great video on making games 2day compared to a few years ago really good.

[@thudtheace]

Riccitiello tried the greedy approach (you can't live without Unity), and Unity got bit hard, and lost the trust of developers. Was over on the Unity Forums, and a tell tale sign of lost trust was someone posting 'where is everybody at?' You know what happens once trust is lost.. Broadcom is trying the same thing in the VM world with VMware, and everyone is jumping off the VMware train-wreck.

[@Momoka7]

For me, John Riccitiello is literally The Emperor from Star Wars... in our universe.

[@crazyfingers619]

Great watch with unique insights.

[@mravg79]

Many pointed out that being a public company and the (ridiculous) expect of constant growth might have to do something with the bad decisions. To refer to a Larian Studios success story they are not on the stock market and they want to make games their way.

[@Rottenpixels]

Amazing videos, so refreshing to hear you insight on video games .

[@bigkeith41]

Great job Sis miss u 🙏🏿❤️😎

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you! I hope you are well!

[@bigkeith41]

@@laurafryer6321 I’m very and u and the Ashman as well

[@djdelacruz8287]

Destin brought me here. Excellent content, thank you!

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you!

[@I5-20VT]

Thank you for your videos, very insightful. So my take is that company culture and by extension leadership is almost everything. If you feel safe in your working environment you are more likely to do a great job and succeed. I´m wondering if company culture and top-down management made Blizzards D4 fail (most likely, me thinks).

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you for watching! From my perspective, it's very similar to sports. The coach matters as do the players.

[@vincent-rz1pr]

Informative and to the point, good stuff!

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@joselozano5479]

your videos are so insightful. thank you

[@adamtobin9440]

Laura I have been really loving your videos and passion for video games. I play on Playstation not because I'm a console warrior just poor I never even really considered playing on Xbox when I do get enough $$ I have to make a choice I go for good games I like and PS has delivered, but since your videos made me realize we are all on the same page. Hopefully sometime I can try some of your games like gears 2. Trying to save up for a series s its hard but im trying hopefully i can tell you soon on how good Gear 2 is or Not? 🙄 Timothy Cain just put out a really good video on making games today compared to a few years ago really good. I think you might like it. Keep up the great work and videos I really enjoy them THANK YOU. Sorry comment so long actually had much more to say another time much love from Canada and me Adam ☺

[@noisecrime]

Interesting video, but please lets not start a narrative that Unity didn't get input on the decisions. There is plenty of evidence now that they had feedback from every level, from developers, internal employees, and even their own insiders groups, that all unanimously told them it was a terrible idea. e.g. Brandon Sheffield talking to Wired magazine, Jono Forbes resigning from Unity etc.

[@Muppemania]

Trust is built in inches and lost in miles, and perhaps even in lightyears when the survival of your business is put at risk. I can only imagine that many studios are looking at Unity after this thinking to themselves: They walked this back, but if I build my game on this engine, am I building it on solid ground, sand, or quick clay? As always, thanks for your perspective.

[@EriksBlue]

Unity has had a branding issues that goes way back, gamers associated Unity with poor quality games for years because of their choice to have removing their logo as a paid feature, the years of asset flips left a bad association with some people. Which I never understood why they never chose to follow unreal’s example of having people who paid for the software to be allowed to use the logo.

[@chase_like_the_bank]

Wow a really insightful take on the situation

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you!

[@ChrisCohen]

This is the first video on this topic I've seen that has gone into the difference between "regular" Unity staff, and people making the business decisions. It's useful to have that perspective in mind, when we label "Unity" as "bad" for doing this anti-customer stuff, we don't mean literally all Unity staff.

[@JokingAtheist]

@Laura Fryer Thanks for your input into the behind the Veil of Gaming. I have a question. First let us give some history. I have been gaming since a young boy, going into arcades and spending endless amounts of time behind a screen of any sort playing games. Through the Years I have had the privilege of playing so many Classics, Like Kings Quest, Space Quest through to games like Phantasmagoria through to games that really captivated the market such as Wow. yet 1 game stood out amongst all of them that simply BLEW all my expectations away in terms of gaming experience. Red Dead Redemption 2 just simply was a masterpiece, something that since playing "even to my detriment" I have compared all Other Games against. In truth this game has kind of ruined gaming for me because of my level of expectation. Here is my question. Is it wrong of me to hold developers to this standard and have an expectation the requires nothing but the best? Perhaps the Question is 3-Fold could I ever expect to see a game like this again in the future? Does it make sense from a developer's point of view to AIM truly for the stars in terms of gameplay, quality and finish of a product?

[@nifftbatuff676]

I see this as an opportunity for depelopers to look for open source projects, and also, maybe, to finally learn to program.

[@Circle14]

I follow the logic you're presenting but there is more publicly known background information about Xbox, Phil, Microsoft in general, Unity gaffs prior to JR, and JR's history and statements that all point to there being a distinct and potentially provable bad faith on the parts of the leadership for both companies. IMO neither company can be trusted in the slightest.

[@NhaMendiz]

Another banger Laura! Great video 😊

[@roktinfast]

Feels like it is the wrong man apologizing. Unless they fire John Riccitello, im moving over to godot.

[@Marandal]

it's almost as if relationships with Game-engine companies is similar to having a romantic relationship. Trust and honesty goes a long way 🤷‍♂

[@laurafryer6321]

Exactly!

[@MortenSkaaning]

Internally at Unity people are usually *very* vocal.

[@agnosticgamerdarthdracarys5859]

All of this basically because they want a bigger cut on that mobile game money.

[@solhsa]

I'm jealous of the people you mentor.

[@brenolad]

Unity leadership took a knife to your throat and said "Just kidding!"

[@spooky_zen]

They should of slow rolled monetization some how

[@ZoneZero253]

New sub! I appreciate your insight.

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you for subscribing!

[@zheroedu]

Amazing channel Laura!

[@laurafryer6321]

Thank you!

[@JLydecka]

Think unreal is the only best option now for devs

[@megazord5696]

Amazing content!

[@laurafryer6321]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you!

[@lilkngstr]

Respectfully subscribed.

[@HumunculousInPants]

If you want to understand their motives, ask yourself; how do you get huge companies like Nintendo to look at their budget, to look at their earnings for the last decade and realise that they wouldn't have earned that money if it weren't for your product, that they got away with paying barely anything, that they can afford to pay you what you have retroactively asked for (but you don't actually plan to take it, it's just a move you are making to get them to look), and to spark a conversation as to why you need to make more profit (to improve engine, which is mutually beneficial). Now how do you get every company to think the same things? OK, why not get every single gaming news outlet talking about you and get people comparing your engine to all of the others, knowing yours is the best at 2D games? People reacting to this Unity move can't see they were never going to retroactively take people's money, it was a way to get the big fish to look at how good they had it, a way to plead their case, it was an advertisement and in the end they really didn't suffer that much of a loss (in fact they likely gained billions and gained security for the future of their platform).