Unity Changes Pricing Model, Putting Studios At Risk

“We are introducing a Unity Runtime Fee that is based upon each time a qualifying game is downloaded by an end user,” a Unity representative revealed in a blog post. “We chose this because each time a game is downloaded, the Unity Runtime is also installed. Also we believe that an initial install-based fee allows creators to keep the ongoing financial gains from player engagement, unlike a revenue share.”

With this new pay structure, games will need to meet a certain revenue and download threshold before it is charged with these fees, but there are concerns among all levels of game development that these changes will harshly impact indie and marginalized developers, that griefing can occur by redownloading games, and that by assessing these fees based on installs instead of purchases, it is not taking into account that games can have multiple installs without being purchased (such as games downloaded across different devices and pirated copies).

Unity has stated it would indeed charge a developer each time a game was redownloaded or downloaded to different devices.

Developers have also noted that Unity is implementing this new fee structure on top of charging yearly subscription fees while removing cheaper tiers. Unity also announced that it would no longer be offering the Unity Plus subscription tier, meaning whoever was in that tier at $400/year may now have to pay the Pro rate ($2,000/year).

These changes will begin January 1st, 2024.