Given that a game engine is the basis--the foundation--of a video game, it's something that both developers and players should find reliable and trustworthy; which is why many are concerned over Unity Software's new merger, with a company that has a track record of bundling malware and adware into their software installations. IronSource has been acquired by Unity for $4.4 billion, which further adds to the company's repertoire, after having bought visual effects studio Weta Digital late last year for $1.6 billion.

IronSource specializes in app monetization, usually advertisements, but they're also known throughout the tech world for having bundled sketchy downloads within their software. They were responsible for creating InstallCore, an open source SDK that served as a "cross-platform installer creation tool and ad-delivery platform" that packaged additional installers for software like RegClean Pro, DriverSupport and other toolbars, to the point that it was classified by a potentially unwanted application by antivirus software like Windows Defender and MalwareBytes, and was even referred to as full-on malware or a trojan. InstallCore was discontinued following the classification and controversy.

That isn't the only controversy that IronSource is behind, either; in 2015, Ben Edelman, an economist for web experiences, documented the insidious nature of InstallCore's programs, detailing another one of their releases, a fake Windows Snapchat client that installed five different adware programs and Android emulator Bluestacks. Unity's reasoning for the acquisition is to assist game developers with monetization, marketing, analytics, and discovery.

Our vision is to provide creators with a powerful, flexible engine that they can realize their visions through - quickly and beautifully - while introducing the tools that help them learn and better understand their audiences, helping them to more quickly iterate and improve to build a robust and scalable business from. As we move closer to this vision today, we couldn’t be more excited about bringing ironSource into the Unity family.

Source

 

[ChiefReginod]

Godot is the future either way.

 

[DarkCoffe64]

Watch pirated releases of unity games be free of adware/malware bs, lmao

 

[Deleted member 546149]

Mobile gamers are losing their shit right now. Oh wait half of them don't even know about this.

Way more than half, just the strong techies do

 

[RAHelllord]

People in the comments acting like Unity is going to start bundling malware with any game built in their engine. Sure they could do that, but why would they spend $1.6 billion to do that? It's not like they'd want to tarnish the Unity brand either by trying to make a quick buck with malware. They aren't the dominant engine but their market share is nothing to scoff at either, they wouldn't just throw all that away. The acquisition is most likely to obtain technology that will benefit their Unity Ads division, which is something that has existed for years and is mostly used in mobile games.
https://unity.com/solutions/unity-ads

Advertising is a very lucrative industry. In 2021 alone mobile game ads generated more than $100 billion. It is also a very complex industry however, Google and Facebook hire thousands of data scientists to fine tune their algorithms and a lot of those data scientists are earning well over $1 million a year. It is unsurprising that Unity would choose to acquire a big adware company rather than try to use homegrown tech which takes time to develop.

I highly doubt they'll add outright malware to the engine, but I believe they're definitely going to add in tools for developers to bundle other software with their games. Maybe not a dozen browser toolbars but I'm confident some devs using the unity engine will want to try generating revenue by offering to bundle some crapware (epic games launcher, advertising browser add-ons, MacAffee/Norton) into their games.
To say nothing of potentially more in-game ads, whether it'll be on mobile or consoles/PC.

 

[Julie_Pilgrim]

Welp, time to go to Blender for video game making.

blender is just 3d software, you can't make an full on game with it.

People in the comments acting like Unity is going to start bundling malware with any game built in their engine. Sure they could do that, but why would they spend $1.6 billion to do that? It's not like they'd want to tarnish the Unity brand either by trying to make a quick buck with malware. They aren't the dominant engine but their market share is nothing to scoff at either, they wouldn't just throw all that away. The acquisition is most likely to obtain technology that will benefit their Unity Ads division, which is something that has existed for years and is mostly used in mobile games.
https://unity.com/solutions/unity-ads

Advertising is a very lucrative industry. In 2021 alone mobile game ads generated more than $100 billion. It is also a very complex industry however, Google and Facebook hire thousands of data scientists to fine tune their algorithms and a lot of those data scientists are earning well over $1 million a year. It is unsurprising that Unity would choose to acquire a big adware company rather than try to use homegrown tech which takes time to develop.

but this is gbatemp! i dont want reasoning! i want to be mad!

 

[SS4]

And companies wonder why so many ppl are pirating games . . . .
Here is a clue: Shit like that is 1 of many reasons rofl

 

[LainaGabranth]

So there is a more nuanced take to this, and it's that some very good devs are gonna have their games irrationally smeared because they use Unity after this merger, even before anything takes place. That doesn't however mean that the games themselves are viruses and such.

This is a bad merge, don't get me wrong. But I love indie games and I'd hate to see "Made in Unity" to become an even worse brand and stigma than it already is for indie devs.

People in the comments acting like Unity is going to start bundling malware with any game built in their engine. Sure they could do that, but why would they spend $1.6 billion to do that? It's not like they'd want to tarnish the Unity brand either by trying to make a quick buck with malware. They aren't the dominant engine but their market share is nothing to scoff at either, they wouldn't just throw all that away. The acquisition is most likely to obtain technology that will benefit their Unity Ads division, which is something that has existed for years and is mostly used in mobile games.
https://unity.com/solutions/unity-ads

Advertising is a very lucrative industry. In 2021 alone mobile game ads generated more than $100 billion. It is also a very complex industry however, Google and Facebook hire thousands of data scientists to fine tune their algorithms and a lot of those data scientists are earning well over $1 million a year. It is unsurprising that Unity would choose to acquire a big adware company rather than try to use homegrown tech which takes time to develop.

objectively correct post, thank you for making it

 

[error404bsod]

Now how do I make mods for pokemon??!?!?!?!? I don't want adds in my games

 

[NinStar]

It's been almost a year since I switched to Godot, my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.

 

[Deleted member 546149]

It's been almost a year since I switched to Godot, my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.

What is Godot?

 

[NinStar]

What is Godot?

It is an open source engine, I switched for another reason at the time (Opera turning GameMaker into a subscription service), but I'm seeing a lot of people doing the same today because of the current situation with Unity. I believe it won't be a hard transition for most people, Godot nowadays has support for C# and a guide for those who are coming from Unity.

 

[Viri]

Sony installed malware and skyward on PCs in the 2000s

Yup, and got hit with a class action lawsuit.

 

[Nincompoopdo]

As if Unity's loading is not slow enough.

 

[AkikoKumagara]

blender is just 3d software, you can't make an full on game with it.

Nah.
https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/2.79/game_engine/introduction.html#use-cases-and-sample-games

 

[Julie_Pilgrim]

Nah.
https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/2.79/game_engine/introduction.html#use-cases-and-sample-games

in my defense this was removed from blender so how was i supposed to know

although i did find a revivial project for it
https://upbge.org/#/

 

[Pokepicker]

Can't wait until I buy a triple A release and have to manually unselect a dozen toolbars before I can even decide where to install the actual game.

You think you’ll be so lucky as to even have a choice?

I can’t wait for my PC to be infected by some Chinese spyware, without my knowledge.

 

[susbaconhairman]

As if Unity wasn't bad enough...

 

[Bladexdsl]

lol unity pretty much is malware except for a very few selection of games. the shovelware made with this crap is off the scale. it's worse than the wii era so i could not give 2 fucks if it dissapeared and never came back it would make my discovery queue usable again

 

[such]

Surely nothing nefarious is afoot. Not in an industry for which its customers are little more than cattle.

 

[hippy dave]

Apparently if you don't destroy the play experience of your game in order to bleed every possible penny out of your customers, you're a fucking idiot: