In a major blow to $2bn UK gaming software company backed by SoftBank, Improbable has been unexpectedly blocked from operating its largest partner platform. The company said Unity had informed it of a change in its terms of service to ban the use of its product on any cloud-based software. Herman Narula, chief executive of Improbable, said, “We had been told before that we don't violate their terms of service, but now they've made it so we do. Apparently, some aspect of the revenue component of our model is the problem.”
Game developers use the company's main product, a cloud-based operating system called SpatialOS, to design highly detailed virtual worlds. The system then plugs into graphics engines that render those worlds on to the screens of games consoles and computers. Unity makes the most popular engine among Improbable customers. Half of all their online games are powered by the product. Narula said, “Other engine providers work with us for free and provide us support. This is how the industry works, but it looks as though they want to change their business model, or may be they want to build a competing product, we don't know.”
The company said there had been a payment dispute with Unity during an “open commercial negotiation” and argued that developers who signed deals with Improbable and Unity “did so on the good faith” that their terms would “allow them to be successful and not carry additional charges”. A developer tweeted, “@unity3d my team has been developing a game via Spatial OS for over a year now. We're an indie team of four with tons of debt because we decided to build our dream without any investment. We are ready to release in about 2 weeks then we wake up to the WORST possible news from you.”
