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Unity attempts to clarify Runtime fee debacle

Unity attempts to clarify Runtime fee debacle

Engine giant Unity has provided more information on the changes it will be introducing at the start of next year.

Dubbed the Runtime fee, the company has revealed that as of January 1st, 2024, it will be charging developers on its Personal and Plus tiers a flat $0.20 for each install of their game once it has surpassed both 200,000 lifetime installs and $200,000 in revenue per year. Studios on the Pro and Enterprise tiers are to be charged between $0.01 and $0.15 for each install, depending on how many times their game is installed each month. That's after their game makes $1 million in revenue per year and has one million lifetime installs.

The change has been met with a swift backlash on social media.

Speaking to Axios, Unity's senior vice president of Create services, Marc Whitten, tried to explain that this would only impact ten per cent of developers using the engine. He did also say that studios would be charged extra fees if consumers install their game on more than one device.

"Our core point with this is simply to make sure that we have the right value exchange so that we can continue to invest in our fundamental mission to make sure that we can deliver the best tools for people to make great games," Whitten said.

"It's not fun to get a bunch of angry feedback on any particular day. And I think that that is us needing to clarify some of these points. But we're we're listening and we will continue to make sure that we deliver the best that we can."


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.