Questions on Canva acquiring Affinity

[kaffeeundsalz]

The title pretty much says it all. Serif has been acquired by Cava:

https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/affinity/

Now I wonder mainly about two things:

1. Will the Affinity suite give up on its one-time purchase philosophy (given that Canva is a subscription service)?

2. Will we see integration of Canva services in the Affinity applications and if so, will users be able to hide it in case they don't need them?

I know that it might be a little early for definitive answers, but since we only have the Canva press release so far and no official statement from Serif yet, I was hoping that staff might be able to comment on this.

[Andy05]

1 minute ago, kaffeeundsalz said:

1. Will the Affinity suite give up on its one-time purchase philosophy (given that Canva is a subscription service)?

I was just about posting pretty similar questions. And I share your thoughts (and worries?) about switching to a subscription based model.

Quote

We share Affinity's belief that professional design software should be intuitive, affordable, fast, and smooth.

Taken from the press release, "affordable" can be both. It's not answering the question about the licence model, unfortunately.

[Nowave]

Message removed, I no longer feel concerned.

[GenewalDesign]

It's going to be a loooong day for the staff today. Lots of questions are coming here!

[mr_lunch]

Additional to the licence concerns, Canva incorporates "AI". If this finds its way into Affinity products, it will deter me from any future upgrades. I would like to see an up-front statement that any AI is opt-in only and not used by default.

[voitek]

Aged like milk. 

[2Dgameartguru]

The main issue is the lack of communication by Serif on this topic. The social media groups are going ablaze with wild speculations, and fears about the issues mentioned here - genAI, subscription, training AI on users' work, etc. 

[GenewalDesign]

Just now, 2Dgameartguru said:

The main issue is the lack of communication by Serif on this topic. The social media groups are going ablaze with wild speculations, and fears about the issues mentioned here - genAI, subscription, training AI on users' work, etc. 

It's 7AM, at least wait before everyone comes in the office

[2Dgameartguru]

5 minutes ago, GenewalDesign said:

It's 7AM, at least wait before everyone comes in the office

Are you telling me there's no one at Serif in another time zone that could address the issue as it hits the forum or the social media sites? Even the Facebook groups I moderate and admin have spread moderators out in different time zones to react quickly enough. 

[Mithferion]

No matter the answers we receive now, time will make the final statement.

Best regards! 

[GenewalDesign]

5 minutes ago, 2Dgameartguru said:

Are you telling me there's no one at Serif in another time zone that could address the issue as it hits the forum or the social media sites? Even the Facebook groups I moderate and admin have spread moderators out in different time zones to react quickly enough. 

I think anyone can wait one or two hours before getting an answer about that. It's not a moderation issue or anything else.

[RussOggi255]

Abode looks interesting but the page has not been updated since July 22, 2023 as far as I can tell.

[woefi]

28 minutes ago, michael-o said:

Time for a switch? … Hello "Abode"

Joke or scam, but definitely not real.

[WaveF]

47 minutes ago, michael-o said:

Terrible news. Throughout my 25-year career, every company acquisition has resulted in negative outcomes such as layoffs, reorganization, and increased costs. Does anyone recall Director, Flash (the original), Fireworks, PageMaker, ImageReady, Muse, Edge Reflow, Edge Animate, GoLive, ... FREEHAND?
坏消息在我25年的职业生涯中，每一次公司收购都带来了负面的结果，比如裁员、重组和成本增加。有没有人记得导演，Flash（原始），烟花，PageMaker，ImageReady，缪斯，边缘回流，边缘动画，GoLive，.徒手？

It's just speculation for now. However, it seems unlikely that Affinity will remain an affordable standalone suite with a one-time payment option. Why would they acquire the company and not try to profit from it?
目前只是推测然而，Affinity似乎不太可能仍然是一个负担得起的一次性付款选项的独立套件。他们为什么要收购这家公司而不试图从中获利呢？

Serif, you have created something remarkable on that European island. Please don't jeopardize it and lose the trust you have built with us, your supporters and advocates, over the years.
塞里夫，你在那个欧洲岛屿上创造了非凡的东西。请不要危及它，失去你与我们，你的支持者和倡导者，多年来建立的信任。

Fireworks is the best! Recently, I've been scripting to perform batch jobs for replacing images in a distorted graphic-symbol and changing image series numbers in Fireworks, tasks that can't be done in Affinity Software. I've also tried scripting in Photoshop, but it's frustrating due to an inexplicable warning: "The command 'Edit Contents' is not currently available," which made me give up.

I hope this acquisition will not change Affinity's original development plan and software positioning.

[GenewalDesign]

4 minutes ago, LunchMoney_Matt said:

You would think Affinity customers being sold to another company would be a pretty big deal, maybe that would warrant an announcement prior to the buyer breaking the news pissing everyone off? 

And?
Getting the information one day earlier would change something?

"Oh no, our users on our forums are upset, let's call back Canva and cancel everything!"

[When_Subscription]

29 minutes ago, GenewalDesign said:

And?
Getting the information one day earlier would change something?

"Oh no, our users on our forums are upset, let's call back Canva and cancel everything!"

You don't agree that hearing the news direct from the very company we have invested in and supported over many years would have been better than hearing it from somewhere else? It's not about quick cancel the trade, if it's going to happen it will, it's more about respect in my opinion. And yes, many users are upset to being sold to Canva, a company that set out on destroying the design industry for a quick buck.

[gabriel_komorov]

2 hours ago, Marc L said:

Affinity's pricing and business model (one-time payment, no subscription) should remain unchanged. Affinity will retain a high degree of autonomy, and Canva has promised to preserve its DNA.

- The Affinity team and offices will be maintained. The founders will continue to run the brand independently.

Yeah... I don't think they poured all that money to just do nothing

[Andy05]

1 hour ago, GenewalDesign said:

It's 7AM, at least wait before everyone comes in the office

Uhm. You know, that this deal didn't happen just overnight? Serif should have been aware that the press release would create some confusion and should have prepared some statement themselves, and be around when Canva dropped that bomb in order to react on threads like this one.

[Napkin6534]

From their FAQ (I bolded the important parts):
 

Quote

Canva’s business model is subscription, are there any plans to change how Affinity is sold?
There are no changes to our current pricing model planned at this time, with all our apps still available as a one-off purchase. Existing Affinity users will be able to continue to use your apps in perpetuity as they were originally purchased – with plenty of free updates to V2 still to look forward to!

I dissect PR smokes/mirrors for living. So read between the lines — next versions may have different pricing structure. They are not ruling out subscriptions or other ideas. So, no more advocating Affinity for me, the future is bleak. No more investing mentally or financially (V2 could by my last purchase). Very sad they sold out: it was such a beautiful dream, European "David", independent, with clear price structure, striving underdog. Now it is circling the corporate aquisition drain.

[ljredux]

Gosh, this is depressing.

If subscription tiers arrive, I'm heading straight back to Adobe. 

[kaffeeundsalz]

2 hours ago, Andy05 said:

(and worries?)

I'm not an offender of subscription models in general. If they are fairly priced (which I know is a highly subjective manner), I'm happy to give them a try. With Serif, I don't know. What I'd like them to be is a healthy competitor for Adobe because I think that benefits the creative market, and one-time purchases are one area where the two companies differ. That said, I'm also a happy Affinity user, so anything becoming more expensive for me would of course be disadvantegous. On the other hand, subscriptions don't necessarily mean an increase in pricing. There are countless examples where this was the case, but it's not set in stone and also depends on how the user handles updates, upgrades etc.

The more important point for me is the integration thing because I don't like user interfaces that try to cross-sell other products and services. I do accept Studio Link in Affinity Publisher because I really see the benefit of that level of integration (it's a dream to use) and after all, that's why there's a universal license that lets me purchase the entire suite for a fair price in case I want it. Also, everyone who decides to buy Publisher as a standalone application can very easily customize the main tool bar and get rid of the persona buttons. The same was true for the old Welcome screen: It did advertise addons, but you could choose to turn it off and never see it again. This is how it's done: Don't constantly give users the subliminal feeling that they are missing out on something or have just bought a lite version of your software. Don't let buttons triggering addon services that I'm not subscribed to eat up precious screen real estate. Let me hide every upselling attempt quickly and effectively because I really know best what I need and don't need to get the job done.

In other words: If Serif were to integrate big buttons with Canva logos on them that I can't hide, I'd be upset.

[Andy05]

1 minute ago, kaffeeundsalz said:

I'm not an offender of subscription models in general. If they are fairly priced (which I know is a highly subjective manner), I'm happy to give them a try.

I second this. This is even more true, if you use the apps professionally as even one or two low-budget commissions a month should pay multiple times more than a subscription.

But especially if one needs an image editing app only, Adobe's Photo offer (~25-26 Euros/month for Photoshop and Lightroom) is a pretty solid one. Assuming image editing is the main focus among the user base, it might be hard to convince them into paying for a subscription for Affinity Photo unless it costs only a fraction of this.

But I don't see this happen too soon anyway. A possible transition to a subscription based model will most likely not happen this year anyway, I suppose.

 

[lineweight]

From the FAQ

Quote

There are no changes to our current pricing model planned at this time, with all our apps still available as a one-off purchase. Existing Affinity users will be able to continue to use your apps in perpetuity as they were originally purchased – with plenty of free updates to V2 still to look forward to!

I bet V3 will come as a subscription model.

I wonder if a cut-off date will come, after which if you haven't purchased the current software, there will be no further opportunity to buy a perpetual licence. That's what happened with the CAD/3D software I use. They try to make out they are being kind to long-time users as we can still buy a "perpetual" licence each year but the first year we don't buy one, we lose that, and are forced into a subscription only arrangement.

The affordable cost and non-subscription pricing are Affinity's USPs, for me at least. Are the apps themselves amazing or unique? No, they are simply good and let you get the job done.

Disappointing that this seems to happen to absolutely everything now.

 

[Bit Disappointed]

Everything now is guesswork, which is rhetoric, much like so much else in here over the years. Hot air and misunderstood loyalty. Take your precautions and stop dreaming. Now you know how the world works, and how it does not work.

I need something different from most here, stability and productivity, and it doesn't provide stability when yet another little naive company jeopardizes the future and design of the products.

And to those who fear that v3 will be a subscription. Of course, it will be a subscription. Anything else would be naive to believe.

So, the revolution Ash talks about is mostly a new and fundamental uncertainty Serif has now served to their customers despite all the marketing and talk over the years. How does it feel, there must be some of the forums few but visible fanboys who are comfort eating today?

[nomi02118]

40 minutes ago, LunchMoney_Matt said:

You don't agree that hearing the news direct from the very company we have invested in and supported over many years would have been better than hearing it from somewhere else? It's not about quick cancel the trade, if it's going to happen it will, it's more about respect in my opinion. And yes, many users are upset to being sold to Canva, a company that set out on destroying the design industry for a quick buck.

I woke up to an email from Affinity telling me about this so they did contact directly. It's also on the affinity site. They will be doing a question and answer thing-y soon. I would rather have good information than quick unreliable information.