Unity is canceling its Controversial Runtime Fee and returning to a more traditional subscription model for its popular video game engine used by developers large and small around the world. However, prices for some subscription plans will increase next year.
A year ago, in September 2023, Unity announced major changes to how it charges developers for use of its engine. Once a game has been downloaded a certain number of times and earned a certain amount of money, Unity will start charging the developer a runtime fee every time someone installs any game developed using Unity, e.g. Pokemon GO or cuphead. Many smaller developers and creators criticized the decision, claiming it would lead to developers abandoning the engine to avoid paying thousands of dollars in installation fees. This could lead to lag in games, and there are even concerns that some developers may remove older games, preventing players from reinstalling them to avoid runtime fees.
all this is a mess eventually leading to A week later, Unity partially reversed some of those decisions. This also resulted in Unity CEO retires and Another senior executive resigns. And now, after all thesethe company is waiving installation fees entirely.
Thursday, on a Blog post on the Unity websiteCEO Matthew Bromberg announced that “effective immediately,” the company will eliminate all runtime fees in the engine.
“I’ve been in contact with many of you over the past three months, and I hear time and time again that you want a strong Unity and understand that price increases are a necessary component for us to be able to invest in advancing the game. moving forward. But these growth don’t have to come in novel and controversial new forms,” Bromberg said.
Unity reveals price increases for some plans
As a result, the runtime charges are gone and Unity will return to a subscription model. Bromberg confirmed that the Unity Personal license will remain free until the game brings in more than $200,000 in revenue or funding. At the same time, starting in January 2025, Unity Pro subscription fees will increase by 8% to an annual cost of $2,200. Unity Enterprise prices will also increase by 25%.
Unity Personal will remain free, with earnings and funding caps increased from $100,000 to $200,000, giving developers more flexibility before paying Unity fees. The Made with Unity splash screen will be optional for games developed with Unity 6, which will launch later this year.
Starting January 1, 2025, the price of Unity Pro will increase by 8%, raising the cost of an annual subscription to $2,200 per seat. Unity Enterprise will achieve 25% growth and new minimum subscription requirements will support customers with annual revenue in excess of $25 million. These changes will apply to all new and existing subscriptions from this date. (Since these licenses involve large companies, prices may vary based on different packages.)
Bromberg emphasized in his blog post that Unity will continue to increase prices as needed, but will only do so through increased subscription fees each year. It doesn’t try to squeeze a penny out of every developer using the engine based on how many times people install the game.
“Removing runtime fees from games and implementing these pricing changes will allow us to continue investing in improving game development for everyone while also becoming a better partner,” Bromberg said.
“Thank you all for your trust and continued support. We look forward to making great games together in the years to come.
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