Gaming Unity has changed its pricing model, and game developers are pissed off

[tom_mai78101]

Popular video game engine Unity is making big changes to its pricing structure that’s causing confusion and anger among developers. On Tuesday, Unity announced that on January 1st, 2024, it would be implementing a pay-per-download pricing scheme that would charge developers a flat fee any time a game using Unity software is installed.

“We are introducing a Unity Runtime Fee that is based upon each time a qualifying game is downloaded by an end user,” the company shared on its blog. “We chose this because each time a game is downloaded, the Unity Runtime is also installed. Also we believe that an initial install-based fee allows creators to keep the ongoing financial gains from player engagement, unlike a revenue share.”

Unity went on to explain in detail how this new program works, but here’s the gist: before a game is charged with these new fees, it must meet a specific revenue and download threshold that changes based on which tier of Unity subscription a developer pays for. These fees are further broken down depending on where a game is purchased, meaning that a game bought in the US, UK, and other “standard” markets is assessed a higher fee than when it’s bought in “emerging” markets like India or China.

Here’s the table Unity included in its announcement that shows the new fees broken down by subscription tier, markets, and download thresholds.

Unity has changed its pricing model, and game developers are pissed off

Review bombing, meet revenue bombing.

www.theverge.com

 

[jonas]

Boy am I am glad I'm not doing any dev for unity

 

[The Helper]

Unity bosses sold stock days before development fees announcement, raising eyebrows

Unity executives sold thousands of shares in the weeks leading up to last night's hugely controversial announcement it will soon charge developers when one of their games is downloaded.

The company has subsequently softened its stance slightly on a couple of aspects - but fury across the industry remains.

Behind the scenes, CEO John Riccitiello shifted 2000 shares last week on 6th September, as noted by Yahoo Finance, which noted this move was part of a trend over the past year where the exec has sold more than 50,000 shares in total and bought none.

Several others on Unity's board of directors also sold shares in the past few weeks, including president of growth Tomer Bar-Zeev who sold 37.5k shares on 1st September, for around $1.4m. Shlomo Dovrat, meanwhile, sold 68k shares on 30th August for around $2.5m.

Unity bosses sold stock days before development fees announcement, raising eyebrows

Unity executives sold thousands of shares in the weeks leading up to last night's hugely controversial announcement it …

www.eurogamer.net

 

[The Helper]

Unity temporarily closes offices and cancels CEO meeting after receiving 'potential threat'

The threat came just days after the announcement of a controversial change to its Unity engine pricing.

Software company Unity has closed two of its offices for the remainder of the week and cancelled a town hall meeting that was planned for today following what Bloomberg initially reported was a credible death threat made in the wake of a controversial price plan change announced earlier this week.

"Today, we have been made aware of a potential threat to some of our offices," a Unity spokesperson confirmed in a statement sent to PC Gamer. "We have taken immediate and proactive measures to ensure the safety of our employees, which is our top priority. We are closing our offices today and tomorrow that could be potential targets for this threat, and are fully cooperating with law enforcement on the investigation."

The alarming update from the engine creator follows widespread criticism Unity received after it announced major changes to how game developers pay to use Unity.

Unity temporarily closes offices and cancels CEO meeting after receiving 'potential threat'

The threat came just days after the announcement of a controversial change to its Unity engine pricing.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[tom_mai78101]

Update: San Francisco police told Polygon that officers responded to Unity’s San Francisco office “regarding a threats incident.” A “reporting party” told police that “an employee made a threat towards his employer using social media.” The employee that made the threat works in an office outside of California, according to the police statement.

Unity closes offices due to ‘credible death threat’

The closures come after a week of controversy around a new pricing model

www.polygon.com

 

[The Helper]

Spoiler: Unity Engine Keeps Digging Their Own Grave...

Hello guys and gals, it's me Mutahar again! This time we take a look again at the Unity situation and while they've responded it's just more doubling down on their position. After this week I don't see a future for this company and that's a good thing