Video Game News and Miscellany

PatrThom

PatrThom

Unions: “We demand better pay, better working conditions, and all that stuff.”
Video game industry: “Finally! Someone is treating us as a legitimate form of art!”

—Patrick
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

www.techspot.com

Rockstar sold pirated copies of its games on Steam, triggering anti-piracy measures

An extensive report from YouTuber Vadim M reveals that longstanding issues with the Steam edition of Manhunt are anti-piracy measures triggered by a third-party crack Rockstar used...
www.techspot.com www.techspot.com
According to another developer, Ben Golus, multiple studios have admitted to using pirated versions of games for re-releases. Teams that port games to new platforms and storefronts don't often have access to the original materials or development staff. Many companies lack the space or procedures to maintain the final source code, which frequently becomes lost. In such situations, pirates have proven to be the most effective means of preservation.
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...yarr?

--Patrick
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

Many companies lack the space or procedures to maintain the final source code, which frequently becomes lost.
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I really, really don't get this.
A) have we learned nothing from do many other media losing originals, e.g.movies and music?
B) every company has to keep extensive records for all kinds of cream going back years/decades. The amount of paperwork we do just for auditing is ridiculous. Those same company's can probably show their expenditures going back decades. Source code is't that big or special, a dedicated archive with some failsafes isn't in any way going to break the bank
C) lol whoops we lost it guess we're using illegal versions is just so obnoxiously irresponsible. Ship with bugs, someone else will fix them. Abandon half way through, someone else will finish it. Lose source code, someone else will recompile it. Argh. Ownership and responsibility beyond shareholders really are things of the past.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Bubble181 said:
I really, really don't get this.
A) have we learned nothing from do many other media losing originals, e.g.movies and music?
B) every company has to keep extensive records for all kinds of cream going back years/decades. The amount of paperwork we do just for auditing is ridiculous. Those same company's can probably show their expenditures going back decades. Source code is't that big or special, a dedicated archive with some failsafes isn't in any way going to break the bank
C) lol whoops we lost it guess we're using illegal versions is just so obnoxiously irresponsible. Ship with bugs, someone else will fix them. Abandon half way through, someone else will finish it. Lose source code, someone else will recompile it. Argh. Ownership and responsibility beyond shareholders really are things of the past.
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The problem is capitalism. Well, late stage capitalism, specifically. Why don't they expend slightly more resources to secure the source code and ensure possible future endeavors? Because fuck the future, it's all about producing as much profit as possible immediately to sate the shareholders, who are all corporate investors uninterested in the company or even the product and care only about short term profits so they can reap as much capital and bail with no risk.
 
Frank

Frank

Yay, more games that stutter no matter how many thousands of dollars your video card costs.

Also Unreal doesn't do 2D. Real chance for Godot to make a play for the big time.
 
ncts_dodge_man

ncts_dodge_man

More Unity - now they're backtracking - kinda.

"We have heard you," Unity wrote. "We apologize for the confusion and angst the runtime fee policy we announced on Tuesday caused. We are listening, talking to our team members, community, customers, and partners, and will be making changes to the policy. We will share an update in a couple of days. Thank you for your honest and critical feedback."


"Changes to the policy" does not mean that they aren't going to keep something out of this mess...
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Bubble181 said:
EA, Microsoft, or Sony.
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Microsoft, who is already something like 95% of the way to acquiring Activision/Blizzard, has apparently been eyeing Nintendo. Or possibly Valve/Steam or maybe WB.
Epic, ever the sadodere, seems to be courting a relationship with Apple.
Their (Unity's) current CEO is already ex-EA, so maybe that's the most likely?
No idea about Sony. They probably don't want to use any engine they didn't develop themselves, as is tradition.

--Patrick
 
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chris

chris

PatrThom said:
Microsoft, who is already something like 95% of the way to acquiring Activision/Blizzard, has apparently been eyeing Nintendo. Or possibly Valve/Steam or maybe WB.
Epic, ever the sadodere, seems to be courting a relationship with Apple.
Their current CEO is already ex-EA, so maybe that's the most likely?
No idea about Sony. They probably don't want to use any engine they didn't develop themselves, as is tradition.

--Patrick
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Microsoft wanted to buy Nintendo since the late 90s. There is the story of a meeting floating around where Microsoft executives met Nintendo executives. Apparently the idea of Microsoft for a pitch was to insult the people from Nintendo saying to them that they make great games but shit hardware and offered to buy them and let them make games for their new console. It said the meeting ended with the Nintendo executives laughing while they left.
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

I'm pretty sure Gabe Newell has said he has no interest in ever selling Valve or Steam. Not sure what happens after Gabe steps down though. He's not getting any younger, and there's no guarantee his successor will feel the same way.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

bhamv3 said:
I'm pretty sure Gabe Newell has said he has no interest in ever selling Valve or Steam. Not sure what happens after Gabe steps down though. He's not getting any younger, and there's no guarantee his successor will feel the same way.
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Pretty sure PC gaming just dies when that happens.

Or we enter a new age of piracy
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Gabe Newell owns over 50% of Valve stock and doesn't have much reason to sell any of it even after he retires. He'll likely just appoint someone to act in his stead and retire.
 
ncts_dodge_man

ncts_dodge_man

Unity's "revamped" policy - "I am sorry"


Further info:

Our Unity Personal plan will remain free and there will be no Runtime Fee for games built on Unity Personal. We will be increasing the cap from $100,000 to $200,000 and we will remove the requirement to use the Made with Unity splash screen.

No game with less than $1 million in trailing 12-month revenue will be subject to the fee.

For those creators on Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise, we are also making changes based on your feedback.

The Runtime Fee policy will only apply beginning with the next LTS version of Unity shipping in 2024 and beyond. Your games that are currently shipped and the projects you are currently working on will not be included – unless you choose to upgrade them to this new version of Unity.

For games that are subject to the runtime fee, we are giving you a choice of either a 2.5% revenue share or the calculated amount based on the number of new people engaging with your game each month. Both of these numbers are self-reported from data you already have available. You will always be billed the lesser amount.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Tim Sweeney (probably): "Actually, Unity had some good ideas about making revenue streams recover on time."
www.gamedeveloper.com

Epic Games to update Unreal Engine pricing for devs outside game industry

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney says the company began running into financial problems "about 10 weeks ago."
www.gamedeveloper.com www.gamedeveloper.com
...developers using Unreal Engine in the film, TV, automotive, and other industries can expect to start paying a per-seat licensing fee[...]similar to subscription services like Maya or Photoshop.
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--Patrick
 
Frank

Frank

" He stated that the company will continue to develop and support the [EGS] storefront, saying it is the "cure to the disease" supposedly infecting the video game industry. "

Loltim.
 
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