Slay the Spire dev releases free game jam deck builder after ditching Unity

Ah, Unity. Truly a textbook case of how some companies are so far removed from reality, that they make Elon Musk look relatable. The fiasco surrounding the borderline offensive Runtime Fee not only pissed off developers, but apparently even staff members didn’t approve of it.

Last month Unity, one of the biggest game engines, tried to push out a massively controversial change to the way it does business. Namely a retroactive fee taken from devs for every install of a game—no matter how that install happened. Putting your game up on Game Pass or Humble Bundle? Doesn't matter, Unity wanted a cut. There have been changes after the fact, but they've done precious little to re-establish trust with devs.

A new report on Unity's recent fee changes claims the policy was «rushed out» and driven by Unity and IronSource's battle with rival tech company Applovin.

It's been over a month since Unity introduced its controversial Runtime Fee policy. Though it was eventually changed after intense backlash from developers across the game industry, a new report from MobileGamer seemingly shows the engine maker's true intentions with the policy. 

Slay the Spire developer Mega Crit has released a new autobattler card game called Dancing Duelists. The game is available for free on itch.io and features a cast of different characters, all with their own decks, who you level up between dance-offs with new cards and abilities. It's way better than it has any right to be. 

Unity's audacious plan to charge developers for the privilege of players installing their games has hit an unforeseen snag, with the announcement that CEO and architect of the scheme, John Riccitiello, will conveniently be retiring, effective immediately.

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Anyone who has doubted the depth of the crisis at Unity in recent months need only look at its consequences: it takes more than a storm in a teacup to capsize a CEO. John Riccitiello's retirement from the company – effective immediately, no less – is indeed a vanishingly rare thing in the games business, where blame for failure and poor judgement all too often trickles down the org chart and leaves top management unscathed.

Moonstruck developers have released a new title,Install Fee Tycoon, poking fun at the mess that Unity has made for itself after announcing that it would begin to charge developers every time a game made in the engine was installed.

If you’re a regular reader at DroidGamers, or if you’ve been following practically any game-related outlets or social media you will have probably seen the absolute dumpster fire that is the Unity Runtime Fee. Well, Unity Technologies still has more surprises.

By Ash Parrish, a reporter who has covered the business, culture, and communities of video games for seven years. Previously, she worked at Kotaku.

Unity CEO John Riccitiello has retired — effective immediately, as of Monday — as president, chief executive officer, chairman, and member of the company’s board of directors, according to a news release from the game engine developer. The move comes weeks after the disastrous announcement of Unity’s new “Runtime Fee” pricing model attracted widespread condemnation across the game development community, and necessitated a swift climbdown from the company.