has ditched a controversial fee it charged game developers. The game engine maker says it is focusing on its seat-based subscription fee (i.e. an annual payment for each person using the software in a studio), though there will be a price increase for Pro and Enterprise users.
The company announced the runtime fee a year ago. Initially, it was going to force developers to pay after reaching certain thresholds. The reaction was negative. Fast and intenseSome industry figures suggest that Unity may no longer be viable for independent developers. Many developers (some of whom had been developing a game with Unity for years) were outraged by the sudden change, and some threatened to abandon the engine.
Unity was forced to pay a few days later for the runtime, but the policy was nearly a disaster for the company. The following month, Unity CEO and president John Riccitiello decided against it. In November, Unity decided against it, which it blamed on its deal with Weta Digital, but this came amid the company’s ill-fated attempts to squeeze more revenue out of developers. Two months later, Unity announced it would lay off 1,800 people, roughly a quarter of its total workforce.
Current CEO Matt Bromberg, who Unity hopes to rebuild trust (or, perhaps, Unity) with developers by abandoning a hated pricing model. The runtime fee is gone, effective immediately. The Unity Personal plan will remain free for developers with less than $200,000 in revenue and funding. They will also have the option to remove the Made with Unity splash screen from their games starting with Unity 6, coming later this year.
On the other hand, the prices and annual income thresholds for Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise subscribers They are changing on January 1stPro users (those with at least $200,000 in total annual revenue and funding who must opt for this plan) will be charged $2,200 per seat per year. That’s an eight percent increase. As for Unity Enterprise, which is mandatory for developers with more than $25 million in annual revenue and funding, a 25 percent price increase will apply. Pricing is customized based on a number of factors, such as the products and services Enterprise customers require.
Bromberg says that going forward, Unity plans to consider potential price increases only on an annual basis. Developers will also be able to continue using an existing version of Unity on the current terms if they do not agree to changes to the publisher's software.
“We want to deliver value at a fair price in the right way so that you continue to feel comfortable building your business long-term with Unity as a partner. And we're confident that if we're good partners and deliver great software and services, we've only just scratched the surface of what we can do together,” Bromberg said. “Removing the runtime fee for games and implementing these pricing changes will allow us to continue investing in improving game development for everyone while being better partners.”
