One year later, Unity completely eliminates controversial runtime fees

Unity cancels its Controversial Runtime Feei is a return to a more traditional subscription model for the favored video game engine utilized by developers large and small world wide. However, the worth of some subscription plans will increase next year.

A year ago, in September 2023, Unity announced a radical change to the way in which it charges developers for using its engine. After downloading a game a certain variety of times and earning a specific amount of cash, Unity began charging developers a runtime fee every time someone installed any game developed with Unity, corresponding to or . Many smaller developers and creators criticized this decision, claiming that it will result in developers abandoning the engine to avoid paying hundreds of dollars in install fees. This may lead to game delays, and there have been even concerns that some developers could pull older games from sale, stopping players from reinstalling them to be able to avoid runtime fees.

It was all one big mess which ultimately led to Unity partially retracts a few of these decisions every week later. This also led to Unity CEO Retires AND one other director resigns. And now, after , the corporate is waiving installation fees altogether.

On Thursday, in blog post on Unity websiteCEO Matthew Bromberg announced that “effective immediately” the corporate is removing all lead time fees from the engine.

“I’ve had the opportunity to engage with many of you over the last three months, and I’ve heard time and again that you want a strong Unity and that you understand that price increases are a necessary part of what allows us to invest in game development. But those increases don’t have to come in new and controversial forms,” Bromberg said.

Unity reveals price increases for some plans

So, runtime fees are gone, and Unity will return to a subscription model. Bromberg confirmed that Unity Personal licenses will remain free until a game generates greater than $200,000 in revenue or funding. Meanwhile, starting in January 2025, Unity Pro subscriptions will increase by 8% to $2,200 per year. Unity Enterprise may even see a 25% price increase.

Unity Personal will remain free, and the revenue and funding cap will increase from $100,000 to $200,000, giving developers more flexibility before Unity fees are incurred. The Made with Unity splash screen will likely be optional for games developed in Unity 6, set to release this year.

Starting January 1, 2025, the worth of Unity Pro will increase by 8%, bringing the annual subscription fee to $2,200 per seat. Unity Enterprise will increase by 25%, with latest minimum subscription requirements for purchasers generating greater than $25 million in annual revenue. These changes will apply to all latest and existing subscriptions starting that date. (Because these licenses cover large firms, prices may vary across different packages.)

Bromberg stressed in his blog post that Unity will proceed to lift prices when vital, but will only accomplish that annually through subscription fee increases. It won’t attempt to squeeze pennies out of each developer using the engine based on how over and over people install your game.

“Removing the turnaround fee and making these pricing changes will allow us to continue investing in making games better for everyone while becoming better partners,” Bromberg said.

“Thank you all for your trust and continued support. We look forward to many more years of creating great games together.”

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