This reminds me of the OGL debacle with Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast. Announce shit decision for small timers; anger and chaos ensues. Claim to backpedal on certain components and changes; it's too late, the damage is done. Seeing a unified (wowza!) leadership sell off their stock just before the impending disaster tells us all we need to know, there's no one at Unity with any capacity to influence fairness who has any interest in developers' best interest. Dump them and move on to other engines, this is far from over. There aren't all that many alternatives right now, which is also what Unity themselves are hoping will save them. I would recommend using others all the same. This long streak of shit behavior towards small developers needs to stop, it went too far a long time ago.

There was no confusion...they fk'd up.

Too little too late IMO.

Devs are abandoning Unity every day either starting the process to rewrite ongoing projects or switching engines for their next. 

Unity just killed their name with this, even if they 100% backtrack, the engine will still be seen as a liability for devs rather than an asset as they'll remain dependent on the whims of a shortsighted CEO. 

At the very least to gain back confidence, Riccitiello must be shown the exit, and Unity must update its current policy in a binding way for them not to be able to do so again.

Looking at the post by Chazore above about the new board of directors, a new CEO isn't going to change anything.  Until the board changes, Unity is completely untrustworthy.

That will happen for sure in one way or another, but it is very unlikely in the window of time that would be necessary here to salvage any existing relationship. kicking Riccitiello out might not be enough yet it is the first step to take (with a reversal of the policy of course) and it must be taken very quickly. However, With Unity's latest response, it's even unlikely they'll deliver a full reversal this week and if they don't then there'll be no way to salvage anything, even a full board change would be too late.

In all likelihood, Unity is simply dead, the only way I see for it to exist in 2024 is after a buyout of some sort, but that won't happen until the stock stabilizes to a new low or the company is dissolved and assets are sold. Again far too late to salvage any relationships which means Unity would then have to rebuild it's pool of users from the ground. 

I have some serious doubts about Unity dying so quickly. This might be a start of the (proper) downfall, but it will take time, simply because one does not simply switch engines in an instant, or typically even in months or maybe even a much longer time. The existing games that use Unity will almost all continue to use it, games far in development using Unity will continue to use it, and new games will also be started using Unity. Things will change, but it will also probably take time.

Technically, not dead, yet all foreseeable outcomes give the same result, for precision I was referring to a scenario where Unity does not do a full reversal and or keep Riccitiello which now appears to be unfortunately likely giving Unity the latest statement which is why I said "In all likelihood". 

Like I said prior to this, with this change, Unity switched from being an Asset that devs relied upon to now being universally viewed as a liability. It's true some devs will have a harder time effectuating changes but that does not change the fact they lost trust in the Company. As long as using Unity is seen as a liability, Unity is dead, and even with a full revert on the decision I don't see this changing back.

If your customers are mainly constituted of those looking to replace your product, have no confidence in your company for stability, and only remain up until they can switch. Your company is as good as dead. it does not matter if some are stuck temporarily with your products or not. 

Ah, so that's what you meant. I can't really argue against that.

Yeah I expect the damage is done at this point; they've broken trust and shown users they're willing to pull the rug out from under them at a moment's notice. Not many folks will be inclined to use their engine going forwards. And to be honest, no great loss, Unity was never a very good engine, its main selling point was that it was cheap and easy to use, and now it's no longer so cheap.

For the sake of those whose games are already out or too far along to feasibly shift engines though, hopefully Unity can still be made to backtrack on the more financially punitive elements of the policy.

It also really must suck to be a Unity employee right now. They poured all their energy into creating the engine and went through a lot of challenges with harsh competition. They had now reached a point where the indies community was using their products in drove which should have been a great way to finally take some market share in the AAA devs scenes over the next few years (with some indies growing to this point).

Yet out of nowhere, the whims of boards and CEOs, whose greed was at a point where they lost all logic, just threw all their career plans in the dustbin by adding a short-time counter on anyone's jobs.