Unity game engine: unwelcome runtime fee is finally off the table
The provider of the game engine Unity is responding to the massive criticism and is withdrawing the runtime fee. Enterprise customers will have to pay more.
(Image: Erstellt mit Dall-E von iX-Redaktion)
The runtime fee for Unity announced a year ago is finally history: After massive criticism, the game engine manufacturer, Unity Technologies, is returning to its original business model and calculating license costs according to developer seats. However, these are increasing significantly, especially for enterprise customers.
In September 2023, Unity announced the introduction of a runtime fee: For each installed game that used the Unity engine, the respective developers would be charged 20 cents. The license change sparked fierce protests from game developers right from the start.
Displeasure and ambiguity
In addition to the general displeasure, there were also initially significant problems with communication. Unity only clarified on request that the license fees for game subscriptions such as the Xbox Game Pass were charged to the subscription provider and not the game studio.
It was also initially stated that additional fees would be incurred for further installations on the same device. Not only could this have inadvertently led to higher costs, but it would also have been possible to install and uninstall games multiple times in order to harm a game publisher. There were also concerns that the installation fee could be misused for tracking purposes.
Later, the then CEO Marc Whitten revised the statement in an interview with the media portal Axios and explained that the fees would only be charged once per device. Unity would only charge double fees for additional devices, such as the simultaneous installation of a game on PC and Steam Deck.
Return to the old business model
Following the protests, Unity partially backtracked shortly after the initial announcement and removed the "runtime fee" not only for Unity staff, but for all studios with a total turnover of less than one million US dollars. It also did not apply to games that had already been published.
Now Matthew Bromberg, who took over as head of Unity on May 15, explains in a blog post that the company is completely discarding the runtime fee.
In discussions with customers, they have shown understanding for necessary price increases, but "these increases do not have to be made in a new and controversial way", says Bromberg.
Higher sales limit for free version
This means that the old, developer seat-based model is returning. Unity Personal for small game projects remains free, and the revenue limit is now 200,000 US dollars instead of the original 100,000 US dollars.
The provider will increase prices for Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise from January 1, 2025. For Unity Pro for customers with an annual turnover of over 200,000 US dollars, the price will increase by 8 percent to 2200 US dollars per developer seat per year.
The price for Unity Enterprise, which is mandatory for customers with an annual turnover of over 25 million US dollars, will increase by 25 percent. Bromberg has announced that it will contact major customers in the coming days for individual packages.
(rme)
