Among Us could be another major casualty of Unity’s new installation fee, which has sparked chaos throughout the games industry since its announcement yesterday. Speaking with IGN, Innersloth programmer Forest Willard confirmed that “pulling Among Us for a while” is on the table while the developer looks for a solution.
“We’re lucky to have the resources that we could swap engines and I see no reason to pay Unity for nothing while we do it,” Willard said. “I’m really hoping they’ll just walk it back, but they should honestly be afraid of how much trust they’re burning with whatever this maneuver is.”
Willard has been among the most vocal detractors of the new policy, which will seek to charge developers a nominal fee for each install above a certain threshold. Unity has been harshly criticized for the unexpected new policy, which has the potential to derail numerous projects currently in development across the industry.
I bet Steam, Epic, Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft will love having waves of developers pulling their games.
Innersloth has always paid Unity appropriately for licenses and services we use. I’m not a discourse guy, but this is undue and *will* force my hand. https://t.co/zLC9a8lBED
— Forest (@forte_bass) September 12, 2023
“I bet Steam, Epic, Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft will love having waves of developers pulling their games,” Willard said. “Innersloth has always paid Unity appropriately for licenses and services we use. I’m not a discourse guy, but this is undue and *will* force my hand.”
Willard highlighted Unreal and Godot as potential alternatives for developers seeking to leave Unity’s platform, adding that they’re “patiently waiting for Luxe,” which is described as a “free, cross-platform, rapid development” alternative engine.
Among Us, Cult of the Lamb, and other games weigh their options
Innersloth joins Massive Monster, the developers behind Cult of the Lamb, in threatening to pull their game on January 1. Massive Monster later followed up with a public message to Unity urging the platform holder to “quit being stinky.”
Among Us is among the most successful games to utilize the Unity engine. Other releases that could be affected include Genshin Impact, Cuphead, Ori and the Blind Forest, Beat Saber, and Pokémon Go.
Unity has already partly walked back the unpopular new policy, claiming that charity bundles and Game Pass games will not be affected. These moves have done little to dampen the furor among game developers, who have pointed to concerns over how installs will be measured.
IGN has reached out to Unity for the company’s reaction to threats by developers to delist their games.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
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