Unity Technologies has made a major change to how it charges developers for using its engine. Starting January 1, 2024, Unity will begin charging a fee for every time a game is installed, with fees dependent on which subscription to Unity a developer has. Once a game has surpassed a threshold of $200,000 in revenue and 200,000 installs and are in either the Unity Personal or Unity Plus subscription tier, a "Unity Runtime Fee" will be applied to the development team. Those subscribed to Unity Pro, which is a tier that Unity will soon be retiring, or Unity Enterprise, will instead be charged fees once a game has made $1,000,000 and has been installed 1,000,000 times.

Depending on which tier a creator is a part of, these new changes could see developers charged as much as $0.20 every single time a game is installed by a user after the threshold is surpassed. It has been confirmed that if an owner of a game were to install a game, delete it, and redownload it, it would cost the developer money, if they were already past the limit. This will also retroactively apply to already released games as well.

Smaller developers have expressed their concerns over these changes, with some concerned about how pirated game installs will cost them, the impact it will have on free to play titles, or that Xbox Game Pass installs will also count, and have the potential to see smaller companies put at risk because of it.

SIGH pic.twitter.com/YgJEKGVQEI

— AGGRO CRAB 🦀 ACT OUT NOW‼️ (@AggroCrabGames) September 12, 2023

Additionally, Unity's own CEO, John Riccitiello, sold 2,000 shares of the company stock just prior to the announcement of the new Unity Runtime Fees.

 

[ZeroFX]

So alongside the built-in malware they're charging in this ridiculous? Damn there's no way to run, unreal is also crappy and the other one is very early.

 

[chrisrlink]

This is the first time where the "pirated game installs take away money from innocent devs" argument could work...

sadly i think that's their goal (unless crackers develop a patch for unity games to remove telemitry (sorta a win-win) i'm more worried bout game pass sinking indie studios than piracy

 

[Guacaholey]

how good of games can godot do? then again isn't it under that license where you can't profit since it's open source and free?

No. The MIT license (as does just about any other popular FOSS license) allows you to use the software for commercial purposes. The GPL licenses require you to publish any changes to source code if you modify and release a version of the software. Free software has nothing to do with cost, it's free as in libre, not gratis.

 

[Ryab]

how good of games can godot do? then again isn't it under that license where you can't profit since it's open source and free?

I'd say to the same level as Unity. And no it is completely legal to sell your games. There are a few on Steam that I play.

 

[dudeguy2022]

I've spent so long learning to use Unity... well, time do it learn to make games without an engine!

 

[Eddypikachu]

On the bright side this might cut down on the release of those shitty shovelware unity games that clog up steam and the nintendo eshop

 

[MikaDubbz]

Hooray! More bullshit where the consumers will end up having to pay for changes made in the supply chain. So gross, so lame.

 

[DJPlace]

what kinda of bullshit is this? oh i know (greedy ass bastard bullshit) that's what it is. i wonder if this affect's everything.

 

[DragonMals]

Thank goodness I haven't thought about making my game in Unity. I definitely agree on how this will hurt snaller Indie devs in the way the OP said it.

I never liked Unity from the beginning tbh. Yeah its one of the many programming engine people suggested, but I always have my doubts about it for it being so popular, and now its at its point of where it starts to shatter itself.

Indie games put a lot of work into their games, why should they want more money from it???

 

[AkiraKurusu]

I suppose the name's still accurate - except now everyone's in "Unity" about hating their shitty, penny-pinching decision.

 

[tech3475]

Tim Sweeny must be laughing his ass off right now.

 

[slaphappygamer]

Wonder when he will go to jail for insider trading. This motherfucker.

 

[The Catboy]

Of course the CEO sold his shares before announcing such a stupid move. He really didn't hide the insider trading with this one. This is the kind of move that is bound to kill the company and he fucking knows it. I hope they reverse their decision and kick his ass out before his dickhead move puts them under.

 

[JuanMena]

Oh nooooo... now what are we gonna do with less mediocre "games" everywhere!?

How can they do this to us!?

 

[NinStar]

how good of games can godot do? then again isn't it under that license where you can't profit since it's open source and free?

This is a weird misconception some people have, most open source licenses allows you to profit off it in your projects (which includes Godot), also, most proprietary softwares heavily relies on open source software.

As an example, if you have a Nintendo Switch, just go to System Settings -> System -> Intellectual Property Notices and you will see the huge amount of open source software the console software uses, same for a bunch of games.

 

[newo]

My question is how does this affect Wii homebrew? Because long live the wii

 

[Viri]

Spoiler

Oh shit! Time to start uninstalling and reinstalling video games to bankrupt devs! Pirating video games will literally steal money from the devs. Pokemon GO is made in Unity, time to voice your frustration with reinstalls!

 

[VartioArtel]

"Additionally, Unity's own CEO, John Riccitiello, sold 2,000 shares of the company stock just prior to the announcement of the new Unity Runtime Fees."

Isn't... this illegal? Selling stock while it's strong then intentionally tanking the company value?

 

[lucasdaolio]

Its funny that you don't need to fight against the concorrence to see be on top... just need to wait until they pull they own rug

 

[LokeYourLord]

Thank god, finally less shovelware on... everywhere, really. I also never liked Unity really. Not that Unreal is great either, but it's certainly better because at least Timmy isn't trying to purposely tank his company via such moves. I suppose we'll see a lot more games on Godot and Unreal going forward, or finally people start creating their own engines again (or none at all, and dare I say it, native code even).