I found this one amusing.

Unity - remember them? The once-beloved publisher of a software
third-party software engine used in hundreds of Indie games, that shot
itself in the foot trying to change the licensing of said engine? The
company that is still struggling to regain the trust of developers and
end-users?

Yeah, they decided the best thing to do was to hire as its new CEO a
fellow who used to work at EA and Zynga.* Because THOSE are two names
that inspire love and trust among gamers.

Look, I get it. There's probably only a limited number of options when
it comes to CEOs, and Matthew Bromberg - the appointee in question -
may not deserve to be saddled with the baggage associated with his
former employers. I'm not really making any comment on the man
himself. He may be great; he may be just the thing Unity needs to
regain its footing.

But the optics... the optics are really bad. You'd have thought that
maybe, just MAYBE somebody on the Unity board might have looked at the
guy and said, "Say, do we have anybody else that DIDN'T previously
work at some of two of the more hated video game companies?"

Or at least try to spin the appointment to make it more palatable in
the news.

I know in the long run it won't matter. Gamers - be they end-users or
developers - have notoriously short memories. I suppose that's what
the board is depending on. Still, Unity continues to struggle with
trust issues, and I doubt this will speed things up. Anyway, this
cluelessness gave me a chuckle.

* it says so here!
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/unity-appoints-former-ea-and-zynga-executive-as-its-new-ceo/

Am 04.05.24 um 15:43 schrieb Spalls Hurgenson:

> But the optics... the optics are really bad. You'd have thought that
> maybe, just MAYBE somebody on the Unity board might have looked at the
> guy and said, "Say, do we have anybody else that DIDN'T previously
> work at some of two of the more hated video game companies?"
> A sure way to regain trust in a B2B market... definitely not, I have the
feeling that the Unity Board of Directors wants the company to go down
in flames!
Maybe some of them have shorted stock option schemes running!

On Sat, 04 May 2024 09:43:42 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>I found this one amusing.
>
>Unity - remember them? The once-beloved publisher of a software
>third-party software engine used in hundreds of Indie games, that shot
>itself in the foot trying to change the licensing of said engine? The
>company that is still struggling to regain the trust of developers and
>end-users?

Side note: Unity just announced its 1st Quarter 2024 financials, and
it reports that it's made a $210 million USD loss. On the plus side,
this is an improvement from the $240 million loss they made in 1Q
2023. On the downside, this loss is despite the fact that the company
downsized itself by firing 25% of its staff.

Unfortunately, as much as I'd like to say that this is all because
Unity pissed off its primary userbase with its licensing shenanigins,
it's really the other divisions that were the problem. It's "Create
Solutions" division - the part behind the development and sale of the
Unity engine -actually saw a 17% increase in revenue.

(sadly, its 'Grow Solutions' division, responsible for marketing and
monetization - basically ad-services that can be inserted into Unity
Engine games - also saw increased revenue. Had it seen a decrease,
maybe Unity might have cut that division too. But, alas no; Unity
remains tied to the advertisers teat)

Still, Unity is struggling from its self-imposed wounds. A more
conservative strategy - one that perhaps gains back the trust of its
users - might be a wiser policy.

Or just hire some schmuck from EA.

Am 12.05.24 um 18:34 schrieb Spalls Hurgenson:
> Unfortunately, as much as I'd like to say that this is all because
> Unity pissed off its primary userbase with its licensing shenanigins,
> it's really the other divisions that were the problem. It's "Create
> Solutions" division - the part behind the development and sale of the
> Unity engine -actually saw a 17% increase in revenue.
Yeah... fire the guys who create and maintain the product the other
divisions want to sell make pr about etc... is the solution...
to death