Popular video game engine Unity has made significant changes to its pricing structure, creating confusion and frustration among developers. On Tuesday, Unity announced that starting January 1st, 2024, it will implement a per-download pricing plan, which means developers will incur a flat fee whenever they install any game using Unity software.
“We are introducing a runtime fee that will be based on how qualified the download is every time a final user downloads the game,” the company shared on its blog. “We believe this will allow creators to benefit financially from player engagement, as opposed to revenue-sharing arrangements.”
Unity went on to explain in detail how this new program will work. Here’s the breakdown: Instead of applying these new fees upfront, Unity will charge based on a specific revenue and download threshold, determined by the tier of Unity membership developers have. These fees will vary depending on where the game is purchased—meaning they will charge more for games bought in “standard” markets like the US, UK, and other “developed” markets compared to “emerging” markets like India or China.
Unity has included a table in their announcement that shows how these new fees will be divided by membership tier, market, and download thresholds.
Unity’s New Pricing
These changes will take effect from January 1st, 2024. Developers were concerned that this would lead to significant bills, but Unity clarified that it will only charge for initial installations and downloads, not ongoing engagement. For example, if you, as a Unity Personal subscriber, earn $200,000 and have 200,000 downloads by January 1, you will only be liable for the new fees on downloads beyond that date. So, if you decide to sell your game to a single copy on January 1, 2024, you’ll only owe Unity 20 cents.
The news has been met with fear, anger, and resentment from the game development community. The primary concern is that these changes will be detrimental to solo, indie, niche, and mobile developers.
It’s essential to note that Unity has acknowledged that this pricing will be assessed for various reasons, both legal and illegal, since many purchases in a game can occur without many installations. Once the revenue threshold for the game is met, if downloads of the game significantly surpass its revenue production, a developer will be charged.
Pirated games, demos, many downloads on various devices, and game passes offered by subscription services may also be affected by these new fees, which were not clearly defined.
In addition, there is concern that bad actors will exploit these fees by repeatedly downloading and uninstalling games as a form of harassment or griefing.
On Tuesday evening, Totilo shared some clarification from Unity. Most importantly, Mark Hwaijen of the company told Totilo that Unity will charge only for initial game installations. However, as Axios noted in Totilo’s article, “If a user installs a game on a different device, extra charges will apply; install a game on a PC after installing it on a console, and you’re hit again.
