A year ago, those responsible for the gaming engine Unity introduced a new fee model that sparked a wave of outrage, permanently damaged the reputation of the engine provider and led to widespread layoffs. Now an unexpected story twist followed.
What have those responsible at Unity announced now? On the official Unity.com website, CEO Matt Bromberg announced that they would like to scrap the runtime fee that was introduced a year ago. Specifically, Bromberg writes:
“After intensive discussions with our community, customers and partners, we have made the decision to drop the runtime fee for our gaming customers with immediate effect. Non-gaming enterprise customers are not affected by this change.”
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“So you fooled us for nothing”
What happened a year ago? When Unity officials introduced a new fee model for their engine in September 2023, they lost the trust that many developers had built up over the years. Suddenly, manufacturers were required to pay a fee for each installation of “Unity Runtime” if a game met certain requirements.
The new model was heavily criticized, among other things, because many things were unclear:
The first shitstorm was followed by initial changes and further explanations for the new model, but these countermeasures were not enough to regain the lost trust. In October 2023, John Riccitiello resigned as CEO of Unity Technologies. In January 2024, 1,800 of the company’s employees had to vacate their positions (via reuters.com).
Why the U-turn now? According to the post by current CEO Matt Bromberg, Unity’s goal has always been to work with other industry participants to create an engine in which everyone can develop great games for everyone. The hard realization that has been made over the past few months:
However, we cannot pursue this goal if we are in conflict with our customers; this partnership must be based on trust at its core. I have been able to engage with many of you over the last three months and I have heard time and time again that you want a strong Unity and that you understand that price increases are a necessary part of what allows us to make investments that move games forward.
But those increases don’t have to come in new and controversial ways. We want to deliver value at a fair price and in the right way so that you continue to feel comfortable building your business with Unity as a partner for the long term. And we’re confident that if we prove to be good partners and deliver great software and services, we’ve barely scratched the surface of what we can do together.
Matt Bromberg via unity.com
What exactly is planned at Unity? In principle, the old subscription model before the changeover should now apply to all Unity gaming customers. However, a developer points out on X that the return to the old model will hide a price increase of ten to 25 percent compared to the status quo from a year ago.
How else is the developer community reacting to this? The official post from Unity on X shows a lot of ridicule and frustration, with only a few thumbs up. One user asks how long this decision will be in effect. Another points out that the competing engine Godot has never had to take back a runtime fee.
Further comments such as “So you’ve fooled us for nothing” underline that those responsible for Unity still have a long way to go to regain the trust that has been destroyed. This report shows how negatively the new model was received at the time: One of the most successful games on Steam criticizes Unity, donates over 180,000 euros to the competition