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Scott Fine

@scottmfine

Systems and Economy Designer | Game Design Blogger | Currently at Skydance Interactive working on Behemoth VR | Kung Fu Factory & level5-IA Alumni | All views are my own

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25.07.2023
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Latest posts by Scott Fine @scottmfine

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As Video-Game Media Struggles, Star YouTuber Launches New Outlet Websites like Polygon and Kotaku are facing huge challenges, opening opportunities for newcomers

Ralph "SkillUp" Panebianco has built a successful YouTube career with more than one million subscribers. So naturally, his next move is... to start a video game website?

I spoke to Panebianco about his new venture ("no ads, no AI") and why he's doing it: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

25.07.2025 17:10 πŸ‘ 1219 πŸ” 151 πŸ’¬ 20 πŸ“Œ 9

FUCK YEAH, SPREADSHEETS!!!

21.09.2023 05:51 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

For subscriptions we don’t know the terms. Xbox for example goes on a case by case basis.

Some small dev might be on game pass for only $100k

And even then, how many players are they going to get to play their game? It’s a very tough market to get gamer’s attention.

13.09.2023 02:54 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Let’s assume your game goes viral. Most F2P games have sub 5% of users as spenders.

So you can have a massive player base, but make very little money if you’re not sure how to monetize players.

In which case you would pay unity $0 because you don’t hit both qualifiers.

13.09.2023 02:51 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

So here’s the thing.

It’s 200k users for lifetime

AND

$200k in the last 12 months

Most F2P games arnt making that kind of money. Outside of the Netmarbles and such.

13.09.2023 02:48 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I’m just gonna nope in the opposite direction.

13.09.2023 01:37 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

F2P will be fine since the studios that have the massive player bases and make over 200k a year to sink themselves also have war chests to fight unity. Or get sweet heart deals.

Little guys don’t typically have that massive of a player base or that amount of money a year. And they need both.

13.09.2023 01:34 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Their decision about redownload is the lynchpin that breaks this for the exact reasons you put forward.

I agree devs who are in a contract to keep their games in subscriptions/streaming may get hit harder depending on the downloads and terms of their deal.

But we don’t know those details.

13.09.2023 01:31 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Allegedly no.

Unity claims they have some tech that can tell.

13.09.2023 00:57 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Yeah, it looks like. They’re trying to force everyone to integrate the full unity ecosystem.

At the very least the big players.

12.09.2023 23:37 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Q: If a user reinstalls/redownloads a game / changes their hardware, will that count as multiple installs?

A: Yes. The creator will need to pay for all future installs. The reason is that Unity doesn’t receive end-player information, just aggregate data.

You got me there. This is ass.

12.09.2023 23:36 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I can see an argument for F2P games getting screwed. Mostly because only 1-5% of users are usually spending and they have massive player bases.

But the vast majority of indie devs or non big budget titles are going to be fine under the new model.

It’s still a shit model. But the sky isn’t falling.

12.09.2023 23:29 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 0

I don’t love it.

But we’re gonna be okay.

Don’t cancel your game.

We’re gonna be okay.

12.09.2023 22:30 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Unity completely botched their new pricing delivery. But it’s an AND not an OR. Much of the community thinks it is OR, myself 10 min ago included

You need to have a large # of downloads AND make a ton of money a year before you start getting dinged.

I don’t think it’s going to bankrupt anyone.

12.09.2023 22:29 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Their marketing is a mess and they completely botched the delivery.

But contrary to what I also initially thought, I don’t think it’s going to sink anyone.

12.09.2023 22:25 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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So I made the same mistake. It’s not 200k OR 200 lifetime installs. It’s AND so

-if the game is free, you pay nothing
-if you make over $200k a year but have less than 200k installs, you pay nothing
-if you have over 200k installs but make less than $200k a year you pay nothing.

12.09.2023 22:24 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
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His face says it all lol

12.09.2023 17:33 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Let’s goooo! Aeldari are still a problem, but now they’re the only problem. πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ˜…

I love warhammer lol

12.09.2023 17:12 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

β€œThe Traveler getting sick and tired of getting harassed at the tower goes on vacation with its favorite guardians.”

I need to get outside and stop playing destiny 2….

10.09.2023 02:46 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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10.09.2023 02:42 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

This one got me. πŸ˜‚πŸ˜…πŸ€£

09.09.2023 04:08 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Website looks nice and it’s easy to navigate!

If you decide to start blogging more about narrative design, please let me know! I’d love to read it.

09.09.2023 04:08 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

How dare you…. **looks at notes** … be happy! πŸ˜…

08.09.2023 21:05 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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πŸ•ΉοΈ My game design newsletter, Signposted issue 3 is coming out on Monday!

βš” In this issue we're talking Zelda Tears of the Kingdom’s durability and what design decisions make it work

πŸ“§ Get it delivered to your inbox by signing up at the link below!

signposted.beehiiv.com/subscribe/

08.09.2023 17:06 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

It’s a whole new game!

I’m excited. 😁

08.09.2023 14:10 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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So Aeldari lost the fire prism.

But for the most part… I think they’re gonna be okay.

Time to debate my list changes. 😌

07.09.2023 17:35 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Good thing I have 8 unopened boxes of corsairs, it’s finally their time to shine!

06.09.2023 22:56 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I’m late to the party, but happy belated birthday! πŸ₯³

06.09.2023 22:55 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Gamedev, 40k, puppies?

06.09.2023 17:30 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Back in my college days, I tried to do early morning classes a few times.

Parking was great, but I just couldn’t get up that early.

God speed!

06.09.2023 17:27 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0