By Wes Davis, a weekend editor who covers the latest in tech and entertainment. He has written news, reviews, and more as a tech journalist since 2020.
Unity bosses sold stock days before development fees announcement, raising eyebrows
13.09.2023 - 12:31 / eurogamer.net / John Riccitiello
Unity executives sold thousands of shares in the weeks leading up to last night's hugely controversial announcement it will soon charge developers when one of their games is downloaded.
The company has subsequently softened its stance slightly on a couple of aspects — but fury across the industry remains.
Behind the scenes, CEO John Riccitiello shifted 2000 shares last week on 6th September, as noted by Yahoo Finance, which noted this move was part of a trend over the past year where the exec has sold more than 50,000 shares in total and bought none.
Several others on Unity's board of directors also sold shares in the past few weeks, including president of growth Tomer Bar-Zeev who sold 37.5k shares on 1st September, for around $1.4m. Shlomo Dovrat, meanwhile, sold 68k shares on 30th August for around $2.5m.
«Pretty cool to see,» UK developer and director at Brightrock Games Scott Richmond ironically wrote on X, formerly Twitter today, highlighting the issue.
Unity has been run by John Riccitiello since 2014, following two infamous runs at the top of EA from 1997 to 2004, and then from 2007 to 2013.
His second tenure at EA saw the company launch Origin and Project Ten Dollar (remember that?), and throw millions at Star Wars: The Old Republic in a bid to topple World of Warcraft. His time at EA ended with him handing his resignation to the company's board after failing to sufficiently boost its share price.
Riccitiello has hit the headlines while CEO of Unity, too. Last year, he apologised after labelling developers that don't prioritise monetisation in the creative process as «some of the biggest fucking idiots».
«My word choice was crude. I am sorry. I am listening and I will do better,» he later said.
Unity laid off nearly 300 people to save money in January this year, after losing around 200 more in June 2022.
The website gametalkz.com is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.
Top Authors
Popular Topics
thegamer.com
22.09.2023 / 21:53
Unity Says "Sorry", Rolls Back Some Download Fees
It's been a pretty rough week for Unity and all of the developers who build their games on the engine. After introducing a new Runtime Fee based on the amount of times a game is installed, developers lashed out at the potential changes and their capability of driving smaller indie studios into the ground, specifically ones that offer up their games on subscription services like Game Pass. Many devs threatened to delay projects to switch to different engines, and it was an all-round disaster for Unity's image.
pcgamer.com
22.09.2023 / 20:45
Unity makes big changes to the install fee that pissed off just about every game developer last week
Last week, just about everyone in the games business was mad at Unity over a new, retroactive per-install fee for games made with the engine. Unity developers raised troubling question after troubling question about the proposal: How would installs be counted? What if someone reinstalls a game over and over? What about cases where a developer could end up paying Unity more than they made from selling their game? After over a week of turmoil, Unity has announced that it's walking back the most objectionable aspects of the fee.
gamedeveloper.com
22.09.2023 / 20:17
Unity apologizes to devs, reveals updated Runtime Fee policy
Next Up: Read Game Developer's interview with Unity Create President Marc Whitten , discussing the road to the changes below and what Unity has learned from the backlash surrounding the original Runtime Fee policy.
gamesradar.com
22.09.2023 / 19:01
Unity is sorry about its controversial install fee but isn't removing it completely
It was only a matter of time before Unity offered something in the way of a concession for the controversial install fee it recently unveiled to the horror of game developers. And while the company has offered an unambiguous apology for the way it initially planned to implement the runtime fee, it isn't backpedaling entirely.
gamesradar.com
19.09.2023 / 15:49
Just days before launch, Unity fee forces Sims-like house sim to cut free-to-play plans and start charging $20
The developer of an upcoming Sims-like has had to scrap its free-to-play release plans and instead charge players due to Unity's recently announced fee changes.
wccftech.com
19.09.2023 / 09:13
Unity to Cap Runtime Fee to 4% of Revenue Over $1M, Users Will Self-Report Figures
Unity is preparing to announce major changes to its controversial Runtime Fee install policy. Announced last week, it asked all developers who reached specific thresholds to pay a fee for the first game installation on any single device.
pushsquare.com
19.09.2023 / 00:39
Cyberpunk 2077 Gigantic 2.0 Update Out 21st September, Five Days Before Phantom Liberty | Push Square
Good news, everyone: Cyberpunk 2077's massive 2.0 update releases on the 21st September, which means that you'll have five days to get cracking on a new playthrough before Phantom Liberty launches on the 26th September. Well, okay, you might not be able to get that far into the game in just five days, but remember that you can start Phantom Liberty as soon as you get through the Pacifica chapter of the main story.
gamesindustry.biz
18.09.2023 / 18:05
Unity reportedly tells staff details of Runtime Fee backtracking
Unity executives informed staff today about some of the planned revisions to the controversial Runtime Fee policy it announced last week, according to Bloomberg.
gamesindustry.biz
18.09.2023 / 16:05
Unity's scramble to recover from Runtime Fee backlash | Microcast
Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox
eurogamer.net
18.09.2023 / 12:35
Unity apologises for "confusion and angst" over fee changes
Unity has apologised following the furore around its disastrous plans to charge developers when people download games made using its technology.
pcgamesn.com
18.09.2023 / 11:43
Lies of P dev adds Denuvo four days before launch
Denuvo Anti-Tamper has been added to Lies of P, the new soulslike from Neowiz, four days before the game’s full launch. The Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring-inspired RPG game is shaping up to be one of the best variations on the FromSoftware formula in a long time, with our own Lies of P review rating it as a superb dark fantasy. With the Lies of P release date now upon us, the game’s Steam page is updated to state it uses Denuvo, which is designed to prevent users from accessing and altering parts of a game’s source code, and to stop piracy. Lies of P is one of many recent games to incorporate Denuvo.