Re-Logic, the studio behind the immensely popular game Terraria, has strongly condemned and rejected the recent changes made by Unity, a leading game engine. In response, Re-Logic has decided to donate $200,000 to rival open-source engines.
Despite the fact that the Terraria team only uses Unity for a few minor components, they believe that Unity’s proposed changes have already caused significant harm to the game development industry. They refuse to stand by and witness what they perceive as predatory actions against studios.
Re-Logic expressed their disappointment in the way Unity disregarded years of trust and loyalty by introducing these changes solely to extract more money from publishers, studios, and gamers. They consider this move unnecessary and tragic, and it will serve as a cautionary tale for the industry.
The backlash against Unity has been widespread, with numerous developers threatening to remove popular games like Among Us from stores or halt development in order to explore alternative engines. This has highlighted the need to support emerging engines as well.
Re-Logic believes that simply making a statement is not enough. Even if Unity were to retract all of its policies and statements, the lost trust cannot be easily repaired. Therefore, Re-Logic has decided to use their own success to support two open-source engines: the Godot Game Engine and FNA. They are donating $100,000 to each engine and committing to provide $1,000 per month to both teams.
In return, Re-Logic only asks that these teams continue to be ethical and create powerful and user-friendly tools for developers worldwide.
Since Unity announced its changes to the runtime policy on September 12, the company has faced widespread criticism from both large and small development teams. Rust, Among Us, and many others have expressed their dissatisfaction with Unity’s actions.
While Unity has stated that it will be revising its policy, Re-Logic rightly points out that the damage has already been done. The perception of greed and the erosion of trust in Unity has led to increased interest in alternative engines.
Adding to the controversy is the recent sale of shares by Unity’s CEO, John Riccitiello, and his history of questionable monetization practices in the industry.
Overall, Re-Logic’s donation and rejection of Unity’s changes serve as a powerful statement against what they perceive as unfair and detrimental actions. It also highlights the importance of supporting competition and fostering a healthy game development ecosystem.
Source: DOTESPORTS
