Unity controversy + Future of Crumple Zone

As many of you probably know, Crumple Zone has been built on the Unity Engine. There is quite some controversy and outrage going on related to that at the moment, with a lot of misinformation and overreaction, so I wanted to share my thoughts and what it means for the future of Crumple Zone.

First of all, this controversial "install fee" only comes into effect after a certain number of installs, which is way beyond what most indie titles, including Crumple Zone, will reach. So in that regard it is actually not that much different from other business models like, let's say Unreal/Epic, where there's a revenue share percentage only after reaching a certain volume of sales - so the Unity model is likely actually still "cheaper" at the end of the day, from a developers perspective, if you're selling high numbers.

In other words, from all the info I know, I don't expect this to affect the distribution or pricing policy of Crumple Zone in any way. On the contrary, I plan to engage in more ways to offer more discounted sales in the upcoming months, both on Steam but also on other platforms, so keep an eye out for future deals.

HOWEVER, that being said, the latest events with Unity are the last straw in a long history of questionable decisions, business strategies and PR statements that are completely against my own believes and ideologies when it comes to creating games, which is why I will stop any further game development based on the Unity Engine.

To give a bit more of context, back in late 2017 when I started developing Crumple Zone, I had the feeling that Unity was more of an underdog and interesting alternative to a mega-corp product like Unreal, and also was intrigued by the challenge to build a proper PC game with Unity vs. all the mobile stuff that this engine is mostly known for. Another strong reason was the availability of well done existing third party libraries for driving physics, something I could not find elsewhere. But in a kind of ironic turn of events, it seems Epic nowadays is much more caring about small developers and giving powerful tools into the hands of everyone, with no monetization hurdles (note: you still have to pay for a Unity license), while Unity is really showing the face of a greedy megacorp.

Ok so what does that mean for future development of Crumple Zone?

1. I was pondering the idea to do an upgraded / enhanced version of the base CZ game for a while, that would include more content, better visuals, and potentially stuff like online MP and VR support, and already started implementing some of it. Kind of like Crumple Zone 1.5 or "Ultimate Edition", if you will. But now I will scrap those plans and go straight for a proper sequel in a new engine.

2. Despite that, please don't think Crumple Zone is an "abandoned game", I will still fully support it, just don't expect any major updates.

3. Work on Crumple Zone 2 has started and it will be build on Unreal Engine

4. Yes, there you have it.

5. Switching to Unreal will have both positive and negative consequences:

• I will not be able to use any of the code from CZ1 and need to rebuild most of the gameplay systems from scratch again

• This, and just learning the engine in general (already made some good progress but still a long way) will take time

BUT these downsides will be out-weighted by the benefits:

• Whereas CZ1, intentionally, has a simplistic charm when it comes to graphics as a homage to PS1 days, this time round I will go all in and aim for stunning AA visuals

• I will incorporate Online MP from the very start to integrate it well vs. trying to do it after the fact like in CZ1 where it proved to be very challenging

• I already started implementing the driving physics completely myself this time, not using a library, so I have full control of the way the physics handle and feel

• The cool assets and systems that Unreal offers out of the box for creating big levels even as a small studio / single person will allow for a bigger scope in general

On top of that, Crumple Zone 2 will also see a shift in terms of gameplay and setting - don't worry, it will still be an arcade crash racer with constant over the top action and tie into the lore already created in the first game. I cannot go into details yet, but I will share a first glimpse at the current prototype with you soon, that may give you some food for speculation.

Bottom line: I will be honest about it: due to everything mentioned it will take a while until CZ2 releases, but I assure you, my humble goal is to make it nothing less than the best most exciting arcade crash racer possible, taking in all the experience and feedback I gained from CZ1, combined with the exciting new possibilities thanks to Unreal Engine 5.

Sorry for the lengthy read, but as always, I try to be as transparent as possible about what's going on behind the scenes.

Would love to hear your thoughts about the situation in the comments below!

Keep on (crash) racing OutOfTune / Moritz