Unity, the company behind the cross-platform game engine of the same name, will not continue their highly controversial per-install Runtime Fee. The company president and CEO Matt Bromberg announced the change of plans in a new blog post where he states that the company needs to foster "a partnership built on trust" with developers.
This move comes "after deep consultation" with the "community, customers, and partners." Bromberg says that the Runtime Fee went against their "core mission" of "democratizing game development."
However, we can’t pursue that mission in conflict with our customers; at its heart, it must be a partnership built on trust. I’ve been able to connect with many of you over the last three months, and I’ve heard time and time again that you want a strong Unity, and understand that price increases are a necessary part of what enables us to invest in moving gaming forward. But those increases needn’t come in a novel and controversial new form.
Developers weren't too happy about it and made their voices heard. The backlash led to Unity walking back some of their install fee plans, but not all of them. A couple of weeks after that walking back, John Riccitiello stepped down as Unity's president, CEO, chairman, and board member. A month after that Unity announced plans for layoffs, which came to fruition in January 2024 when 25% of the company was laid off.
The Runtime Fee has now been dropped completely from all plans. Unity has also made a few other changes to its pricing plans:
- Unity Personal: Will remain free. The revenue and funding ceiling goes from $100,000 to $200,000.
- Unity Pro: Price increases by 8% annually to $2,200 per seat. This is for those with more than $200,000 in annual revenue and funding.
- Unity Enterprise: Price increases by 25%. This is for those with over $25 million in revenue or funding.
