Hi everyone,

as some of you may know already, some totally unexpected (and very bad) news broke out today: the Unity’s block of SpatialOS.

The article I've just linked explains everything in detail, but in a nutshell:

In December, Unity updated its TOS adding a new paragraph - 2.4, which you can find here.

adding a new paragraph - 2.4, which you can find here. The paragraph is (IMHO) badly worded and open to interpretation, but it seems to make the use of Unity as a server forbidden. Mind, we're not talking about having a Unity client connect to a generic server - that's still fine. What's now forbidden is to have a server that uses Unity processes to simulate the world - like what SpatialOS does.

- like what SpatialOS does. The change went either unnoticed or wasn't anyway given the proper interpretation until today, when, completely out of the blue, Unity revoked Improbable's licence for breaking the new TOS.

Mind, this doesn't affect Fractured only. Fractured is not the only game developed with Unity + SpatialOS, and Improbable is not the only service allowing using Unity as a server. I don't know how many projects either released or in the making have been totally screwed overnight by a one-directional, entirely unannounced decision by Unity, but it's certainly many.

In fact, their decision affects even very small studios and individual developers who might be self-hosting a Unity server!

What does it mean for Fractured in the short run:

Development-wise, nothing, we keep working towards Alpha 1 as usual .

. Testing-wise, we're taking our Pre-Alpha servers down until further notice

There might be some delays in the testing schedule, but nothing dramatic.

In the long run, we're confident the people at Unity will understand the move they made goes against their own interest and decide to retrace their steps. Considering the news has broke on mainstream media too, we're fairly sure it might even get resolved in a matter of days.

In the meantime, we'll keep touching base with the press, put pressure on Unity, and keep you up to date on any development.

Thank you all for your understanding.

Jacopo