Highlights
Discord takes a jab at Unity's controversial pricing changes by jokingly saying it would limit Discord users to one message per day.
Game developers are furious and annoyed with Unity's new pricing model, especially because it applies to games that were already released prior to the changes. Despite Unity's efforts to explain the changes and CEO John Riccitiello's decision to sell off his shares before the announcement, the negative response persists, resulting in a decline in the company's stock price.
Discord, a popular social platform, appears to be targeting Unity following the latter company's controversial pricing structure updates. Unity, a well-known game engine utilized in the creation of successful titles like Pokemon Go, Rimworld, Return of the Obra Dinn, and Genshin Impact, faced backlash from game developers who expressed their dissatisfaction on social media. On September 12, 2023, Unity made an announcement outlining a new pricing model wherein developers would be required to pay a fee for each game installation once the title surpasses a certain threshold of revenue and installs. The prevailing sentiment suggests that these pricing revisions will have a detrimental impact on the industry, particularly since previously released games will be retroactively affected by these changes.
Discord has tweeted a humorous message, informing users that they can now only send one message per day on the platform. This has caused confusion among followers, leading to Discord engaging with them. In a response to a query about retroactive charges for messages, Discord appeared to indirectly criticize Unity and its controversial pricing model in the gaming industry. Xbox joined in by sharing a screenshot of the entire Bee Movie script. It is unclear what Discord's exact intentions were with the initial tweet. It could be seen as a satirical response to Unity's pricing model. However, an instant messaging service with such limitations would be highly impractical and lose popularity quickly. This mirrors the declining response to Unity's new pricing model, as exemplified by Facepunch Studios announcing Rust 2 without using Unity and Cult of the Lamb developer deciding to withdraw the game from sale in response to the new pricing.
Unity's efforts to communicate the forthcoming modifications to its pricing structure have failed to address the issue adequately. Moreover, it has recently been revealed that CEO John Riccitiello partook in selling shares prior to the announcement, suggesting his awareness of the negative reception the revised pricing would receive. Consequently, the company's stock price has suffered a decline subsequent to the announcement.
