UnityThe cross-platform game engine announced major changes to its fee structure, angering indie developers around the world. The company has introduced a new ‘Unity Runtime Fee’, which will charge studios a cost every time a game built on their engine is installed. The new pricing structure will go into effect January 1, 2024, with different install costs imposed based on its multiple subscription tiers. Obviously, developers are upset and confused and have started speaking out against the rules and their lack of clarity, which could easily bankrupt them. Although this only applies to a certain group of developers who have crossed a set threshold of sales or download numbers, a revenue share model would have been ideal.
“Yes, this is a price increase and will only affect a small subset of current Unity Editor users. Today, the majority of Unity Editor users are not currently paying anything and will not be affected by this change,” the company explained in a do, The limits are set based on the plans chosen by the developer. Smaller creators who rely on the Unity Personal and Unity Plus models will be forced to pay $0.20 (roughly Rs. 17) per download when their game hits $200,000 (roughly Rs. 1.65 crore) in revenue in a year and 200,000 installs. Will cross. Due to this, Unity will have to pay approximately $ 40,000 (approximately Rs 33 lakh) every year. Meanwhile, AAA developers using Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise accounts have set their limit at $1 million (roughly Rs. 8 crores) in revenue and 1 million lifetime installs before runtime fees are charged.
“We chose this because every time a game is downloaded, unity runtime is also installed. “Furthermore, we believe that the initial install-based fee allows creators to retain ongoing financial gain from player participation, as opposed to revenue sharing,” Unity’s original blog post reads. Initially, the company claimed that the charge would be counted even if deleting and reinstalling the game on the same system, but has since walked back The claim states that developers will be charged only on the initial install. That said, if the same game is downloaded on different systems, there will be additional charges for the developer.
NEW – I got a major update from Unity about their new fees
– Unity “regrouped” and now says there is a fee only for the initial installation of the game
– Demo will not trigger most fees
-Devs is not on the hook for Game Passmore here:https://t.co/GCKjEeFtYR
– Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) 13 September 2023
Angry developers on the internet have since banded together to explain how these rules could bankrupt them. One can simply pirate a game, download and delete it, then repeat the process on different systems to add to the studio’s alleged fees. In response, Unity mentioned its ongoing ‘fraud detection practices’, which will be used as a starting point to prevent studios from charging for games they never sold. Basically, the company doesn’t have a good answer, and is in the process of figuring it out. “We recognize that users will have concerns about this and we will provide a process for them to present their concerns to our fraud compliance team,” blog post Reads.
In addition to piracy, freemium games that earn revenue through in-game purchases will be affected. of unity New rules – essentially forcing them to pay more than they earn, due to receiving millions of downloads within just one year. Fortunately, if the game is downloaded with a subscription plan xbox game passFees will be charged from its distributors, which in case will be Microsoft, Similarly, games offered for charity or even at demo installations are exempt from the fee. However, there is no transparency into how Unity tracks these install numbers, other than claiming that they are confident in the accuracy of their ‘proprietary data model’.
In retaliation, some developers have expressed their dislike towards Unity, starting with Massive Monster, which has threatened to remove them critically acclaimed roguelike cult of the lamb From the storefront on January 1. The studio specializes in Unity and has several projects in the pipeline, all of which are now delayed as the team figures out the new engine and workflow. even innerslothDevelopers of the pandemic-era sensation among usConfirmed ign Removing the game from the storefront is on the list of plans.
The reaction is entirely justified when you consider how many popular titles have been born from the Unity engine – genshin impact, Cupid, ori and blind forestrust, and hollow knight to name just a few. A highly anticipated sequel to the last of them was also planned – Silksong, which was Delayed early this year For better polish. And now, fans are worried that it could be delayed further if developer team Cherry decides to rebuild it on a new engine. There has been no official comment from the studio yet.