Unity Folds Its Hands, Cancels Controversial Install Fee

A year after it drew the ire of video game developers who use its graphics engine, Unity Announces Immediate Elimination of Runtime Pricingyour execution speed. The company announced this in a statement signed by Matt Bromberg, its current president and CEO.

Unity is thus hoping to put behind it the controversy it has generated by introducing a pricing scheme designed to force developers to pay for each install of a video game made using its technology, a measure that many studies have described as predatory; especially since the original idea was for the payment to be retroactive.

“I’ve been able to reach out to many of you over the last three months and hear over and over that you want Unity to be strong, and you understand that price increases are necessary so that we can continue to invest in games. But those increases don’t have to be done in new and controversial ways,” Bromberg said.

While the Unity Runtime fee has been waived, the increase will apply to Pro and Enterprise pricing. Unity has decided to return to its seat subscription model, which will see a price increase on January 1, 2025. from 8 to 25 percent.

Specifically, starting next year, Unity Pro will cost $2,200 per seat per year. This plan is mandatory for developers with revenues over $200,000. Meanwhile, Unity Enterprise, the plan for teams with revenues over $25 million, will be 25% more expensive.

Unity Removes Controversial Completion Fee

Regardless of the changes to the Pro and Enterprise plans, Unity plans to keep the personal version free for those with incomes up to $200,000. It also confirmed that screen usage Made with Unity which appears when you launch a game created using this graphics engine, will be optionally included in games created with Unity 6 that are released later this year.

The company also promised to return to a more traditional pricing update cycle. Their idea is to only change them once a year, if possible. “Removing the cost of running games and implementing these pricing changes will allow us to continue investing in improving game development for everyone while remaining the best partner to you,” Bromberg explained.

Aside from the controversy over its pricing changes, Unity has had a very difficult year. Shortly after its pricing strategy drew the ire of the industry, John Riccioello He stepped down as CEO, and the company also announced layoffs and an end to its relationship with Weta FX, director Peter Jackson’s visual effects company.

In the midst of the scandal, several studios decided boycott Unity to use your execution speed. Some have decided to reduce the monetization of their games through advertising, while others have decided to move their games to other graphics engines.