UNITY NEWS - PRICE CHANGE, BACKLASH...

[DerVVulfman]

Unity Apologizes for "Confusion and Angst"
Due to Runtime Fee Policy;
Promises Changes

After shocking the industry by publishing a new pricing structure for developers using its engine, Unity took to X (formerly Twitter) to apologize and promise change.

The company said on Sunday evening that it had heard the complaints and delivered an apology for the "confusion and angst" caused by the new policy.

It also vowed to listen to all parties involved and make changes accordingly. We'll hear more details in a couple of days. 

We have heard you. We apologize for the confusion and angst the runtime fee policy we announced on Tuesday caused. We are listening, talking to our team members, community, customers, and partners, and will be making changes to the policy. We will share an update in a couple of days. Thank you for your honest and critical feedback.

Back on September 13, Unity announced that it would charge developers past specific revenue thresholds a fee depending on the number of installations for their games.

This triggered extremely negative and very public reactions among developers, including boycotts and announcements of abandoning the engine unless Unity reverses course.

Of course, we'll have to wait and see whether the changes promised by the company will be enough to satisfy its users and customers.

Some partial concessions and clarifications have already been announced, but the general reaction has not been enthusiastic, with many developers judging them as insufficient or too little, too late.

Unity is extremely popular among mobile developers (for instance it's used by HoYoverse for both Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail) and indies, especially on Steam, or at least it was before this policy change was announced.

We'll have to wait and see if the company will manage to avert this existential crisis before it's too late. The next few days will likely be crucial.