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Unity is in a continual state of building out "shiny new toys"; libraries and modules and sibling software that work as intended for 1 or 2 release cycles befor

by mslong 7y ago

Unity is in a continual state of building out "shiny new toys"; libraries and modules and sibling software that work as intended for 1 or 2 release cycles before breaking and being discarded. I've seen this time and again with Unity and I think it will hurt their stock going forward as they try to convince more industries to use their tools. Just in the past two years I've seen them develop, hype, and then quietly drop: their VR editor, AR preview tool, Octane Renderer, Substance integration, UNet, ML integration. It's obvious they have an incredibly difficult time managing their tools when their platform is fundamentally shattered between multiple releases, versions, render pipelines, and now DOTS vs normal workflow. And it's basically impossible for other companies to manage Unity SDKs with a ground that moves that much.

mushufasa 7y ago
In my perspective that is a good sign -- they are constantly trying new ways to grow, and dynamically reallocating their resources to markets where the product features gain traction. IMHO it's unrealistic to expect long-term commitment for maintenance / compatibility from ${ANY} new software, unless there's a 5-year enterprise contract with a SLA. Maintenance is difficult work, and only rewarding if the software provides real-world usefulness.
- paulryanrogers 7y ago
  Bought Unity on sale with plans to use it later. Returned to a prototype two years later and both the product and licensed changed. No way to use the original license or version since their old registration flow broke. So it's upgrade... or crack it?
  - joeevans1000 7y ago
    I thought Unity was free, basically, for projects that bring in less than 100K a year.
gamblor956 7y ago
And it's basically impossible for other companies to manage Unity SDKs with a ground that moves that much. Many successful video game companies use Unity to make their games. It's basically impossible to use except compared to the alternatives, which are just as impossible or more so.
- jayd16 7y ago
  It's pretty impossible to make an sdk or plugin that's runs on every version of Unity. I haven't seen it, anyway. Studios have the same issue. They pick a version to ship with and work around whatever known bugs there are. Upgrading is a huge event and it's never painless.
- seba_dos1 7y ago
  Only because they keep it on the version of the engine they started on. Just ask any game developer using Unity about whether they tried to update the engine mid-project and how that went if they did ;p
- Reedx 7y ago
  Well, there's also the option of making your own engine. Which many game companies do, especially in the AAA space.
ryuukk_ 7y ago
This is why your product is shit, and theirs is used by a whole industry If you fail to innovate you are left behind Just like Google, they try different things, new things, they experiment a lot, research a lot, hire a lot, and this is why they are both successful

by mslong 7y ago

mushufasa 7y ago

In my perspective that is a good sign -- they are constantly trying new ways to grow, and dynamically reallocating their resources to markets where the product features gain traction. IMHO it's unrealistic to expect long-term commitment for maintenance / compatibility from ${ANY} new software, unless there's a 5-year enterprise contract with a SLA. Maintenance is difficult work, and only rewarding if the software provides real-world usefulness.

paulryanrogers 7y ago
Bought Unity on sale with plans to use it later. Returned to a prototype two years later and both the product and licensed changed. No way to use the original license or version since their old registration flow broke. So it's upgrade... or crack it?
- joeevans1000 7y ago
  I thought Unity was free, basically, for projects that bring in less than 100K a year.

gamblor956 7y ago

And it's basically impossible for other companies to manage Unity SDKs with a ground that moves that much. Many successful video game companies use Unity to make their games. It's basically impossible to use except compared to the alternatives, which are just as impossible or more so.

jayd16 7y ago
It's pretty impossible to make an sdk or plugin that's runs on every version of Unity. I haven't seen it, anyway. Studios have the same issue. They pick a version to ship with and work around whatever known bugs there are. Upgrading is a huge event and it's never painless.
seba_dos1 7y ago
Only because they keep it on the version of the engine they started on. Just ask any game developer using Unity about whether they tried to update the engine mid-project and how that went if they did ;p
Reedx 7y ago
Well, there's also the option of making your own engine. Which many game companies do, especially in the AAA space.

ryuukk_ 7y ago

This is why your product is shit, and theirs is used by a whole industry If you fail to innovate you are left behind Just like Google, they try different things, new things, they experiment a lot, research a lot, hire a lot, and this is why they are both successful