And this was only mentioned in a footnote in the complaint document, though I saw it many times when browsing through the earlier lawsuit documents. Interestingly, this sounds like it should already be illegal in the EU, as per the Wikipedia link you gave.

This is called a Most Favored Nation clause and is not exclusive to Steam, or even particularly uncommon.

How clear is the wording? Is it possible to find the text of the terms / agreement / contract online? Or is it covered by an NDA?

This is true! Vintage Story does it, for example. They're doing okay from what I can tell, but it's more of an exception. It's pretty clear that they are losing out on potential customers. Notably, you also lose out on regional pricing, which is pretty difficult to set up yourself. If you're creating games for a living, you don't have much of a choice about whether you put your game on Steam.

They're still doing this. I just recently put my first game page up on steam and this is one of the things you sign.

Nobody is forcing you to sell your game to/with steam.

I’m talking AR/VR stuff,

it's coming along tho, fyi!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJKQ2ca5zVw&ab_channel=BastiaanOlij

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shbHGhkh4NM&ab_channel=BastiaanOlij

https://www.khronos.org/blog/advancing-openxr-development-godot-xr-engine-enhancements

yet another example of unity shooting itself in the face.

Yes. I can't port my projects easily and they'll be released for free anyway.

I don't think I can stomach coding in C++ again and Godot has grown but needs some time. I'm ok with waiting for now.

I would add, there are at least two other cases that necessitate Unity

the first is, unity is also used to make software, not just games. anything that has a 3d element can just be made in or with unity. I'm talking AR/VR stuff, builders, simulators, etc. I have a friend who made training software for welders in unity, for example.

the other one is vtubers. while not strictly necessary, the moment you want to model something a bit more complex you will likely have to deal with unity because the vrm format has become the standard (note: very over-simplified)

although they're not necessarily game cases, they're related enough that I wanted to bring them up

I work in gamedev, both on my own game in my free time, and professionally. Projects take years to develop, and Unity was doing pretty ok 6 years ago, when I started my own project. Will I make another one in Godot? Very probably yes, Unity sucks, but moving an existing project is unfeasible.

Another reasons are console ports. Getting a Unity game to run (run, not release/port completely, but that's an important step) on any console is pretty simple, since all the core libraries are prepared for you and you just include them. For Godot, you have to find someone who already has those libraries.

Unreal is too heavyweight for a lot of games. It's amazing if you want some kind of realistic-leaning 3D, but the project size and (editor) performance is a huge problem for smaller things. Still better in a lot of things compared to Unity, but it's also harder to get into, since it's C++. Unity with C# is way more approachable, especially for students with laptops, who can barely get the editor running (It was a reason why I barely finished my Unreal assignments on college, and stuck with Unity). So, you have a lot of people who grew up on Unity, making it easier to hire for it. And when you are used to one engine for most of your life, with years of experience that's limited to it, it is difficult to switch (although, almost everyone I talked to who works in Unity has "learn Godot" on their todo list)

I've been mostly seeing Unreal recently, when talking to other devs and studios at conferences, and not many new Unity projects. Anecdotal evidence, though.

Also, while I'll definitely use Godot for any future project (which I already did for some gamejams), I can't imagine maintaining a large AA(A) codebase written in GDscript. To be fair, it might be because I don't have any large-scale project python experience (which I also can't imagine writing a large app with), and IIRC the C# support isn't as good in Godot yet.

I want to add another post giving you the same advice to drive the importance of it home. Make shit.

I got interested in gamedev 20 years ago and never released anything despite still tinkering sometimes. The old saying is "fail early, fail often," because that's what learning is. Make shit.

Just make stuff, doesn't matter how shitty, just make something.

Look for basic tutorials that explain to you what you're doing and why, not the ones where they just have you repeat a bunch of steps like it's a list without any explanation. Also choose projects that you have at least some interest in, not just for learning, it'll help with motivation when things get hard.

As for which engine it depends on your goals... If you want to be an indie dev then I'd recommend to go with Godot and GDScript. It has the option to use C# but it's not made for it and you'll find many more resources if you use GDscript, plus it's easy to learn, especially if the coding mentality already clicked for you.

Avoid Unity.

If you want to focus more on design or levels or non-programming stuff to eventually work at a studio and be part of a bigger team then I'd recommend Unreal and using Blueprints. Unreal also has an amazing catalogue of free resources to learn.

I'd recommend starting with modding. It gives you a huge shortcut to many aspects of it, letting you get something playable faster, which is the rewarding part. As you get more experience, you can try more challenging mods, and eventually you'll reach a point where you want the greater freedom of making a game from scratch.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

+1 for Godot. Learn GDScript from ZERO is an excellent interactive resource for beginners: https://gdquest.github.io/learn-gdscript/

If you don't have that much programming experience I would start with basic game dev tutorial for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulgh_neTJG8&list=PL6SABXRSlpH8CD71L7zye311cp9R4JazJ

After going over the tutorial I would continue either by starting your own project or cloning some existing game.

Edit: And game jams. Game jams are best way to force you to create something and finish it. This would be ideally after completing some tutorial that gives you understanding of how to create games with engine.

I used godot to make Hangman, then Tik Tak Toe, then Breakout, then Pong.

Absolutely recommended.

Music. Sound. Visual effects. AI. It's worthwhile.

Are people really still using Unity? I feel like all cases should be covered by Godot and Unreal.

I would advise using a game engine and trying to make very simple game with it ( like chess ). Once you start to get it think about trying some gamejam with people ( be sure to tell them you are a newbie ).

If you are looking to try specific tools, godot is often use in gamejam and has a lot of tutorials.

Roughly the same as for any type of software: make shit.

If you've already got experience with general programming, that helps a lot, you can probably just go straight into a super simple game. My go-to recommendation for programming in general is "make simple something that already exists". That gives you goals that are very clear, and reasonably achievable, so you can start getting some of that satisfaction feedback quickly. For a game, I'd say do something like Tic-Tac-Toe, Battleship, Solitaire... something that isn't gonna require a whole lot of art, just to get going, and isn't gonna take weeks to get a working prototype.

Godot definitely sounds like a good bet to get going. Even if you end up moving to another engine for projects in the future, that doesn't invalidate your time spent on this one.

That's really cool, I already had a Nintendo 64!

A bit long but worth the time, I’ll post the edited version if he makes one too

His comment at 7:07 about how "it makes it look like these objects can't be perceived" is exactly the context that struck me. It begs for a Cthulhu-esque encounter of some type. Remedy could make masterful use of this in the next Control game, for instance.

Neat about the first music videos to do it, too. I only remembered seeing it in OKGO and Watsy videos.

/edit: Of course he goes on to mention Control. It's a good fit.

I know, clear as mud! A few summary paragraphs I plucked from it:

If you have a game, website or mobile app that involves player to player chat, or a website or mobile app (inc. web/mobile games) that includes any kind of purchasing, you need to be aware of and compliant with EAA – though micro-enterprises (small headcount, small turnover/balance) are exempt.

[…] if provided to consumers after 28th June 2025

GPSR means it’s now illegal to target any game at the European market unless there’s an assigned safety rep with a Europe address (with contact details communicated to both players and the authorities), and the game has had a safety risk assessment which is documented in the game’s T&Cs.

GPSR applies to products placed on the EU market after 13th December 2024. For online sales, it’s about whether EU citizens are targeted. Just the fact that Eu citizens can purchase isn’t enough, targeted at them means for example being able to pay in Euros, have delivery of a physical product to an EU country, or access info in European languages.