Unity Responds to Backlash with Significant Revisions to Runtime Fee Policy

Unity, a popular game development platform, recently introduced a new Runtime Fee policy. However, just over a week after the initial announcement, Unity has made significant changes to this policy. The company announced these changes through an open letter posted on the Unity Blog and shared on social media.

Marc Whitten, the lead of Unity Create, began the letter with an apology, acknowledging that they should have engaged more with the developer community and considered their feedback before announcing the initial policy changes.

The revised Runtime Fee policy includes several notable changes from the original proposal:

1. Unity Personal Subscribers Exempt: Unity Personal subscribers will no longer be subject to the Runtime Fee.
2. Increased Cap: The revenue cap before the fee kicks in has been raised from $100,000 to $200,000.
3. Revenue Threshold: Games with less than $1 million in revenue over a 12-month period will not be subjected to this fee.
4. Applies to New Version: The fee will only apply to games created using the new version of Unity, set to launch in 2024.
5. No Retroactive Charges: Unity assured developers that the fee would not be applied retroactively to games already on the market and created using previous Unity versions. Developers can choose whether to upgrade their existing games to the new version.

For games subject to the fee, Unity has made changes in how it will be calculated. Instead of charging per install, developers can opt for either a 2.5% revenue share or a calculated amount based on the number of new players each month. Developers will self-report these numbers.

The initial policy had sparked controversy and backlash from developers. It would have imposed fees on game installations, even retroactively to previously released games. Many developers criticized Unity for the sudden and unexpected change.

Unity has also provided an updated FAQs page that clarifies that the fee would only apply at the “initial engagement” and offers a Runtime Fee Estimator.

While these changes seem to address some of the concerns, Unity’s initial announcement had already caused some damage within the developer community. Developers will be closely watching how these revised policies unfold in practice and whether they restore trust within the Unity ecosystem.