In a shocking move, Unity has announced its new pricing scheme, the Unity Runtime Fee. This announcement has caused quite a stir in the industry, with many expressing their concerns and frustrations. Co-founder, ex-CEO, and board member David Helgason even admitted that the company “fucked up on so many levels.”
However, Unity has recently stated that changes to the policy are being made in response to the feedback from the industry. The company held an all-hands meeting to discuss how it plans to address these concerns. This comes after the cancellation of a previous meeting due to a credible death threat.
Revised Pricing Scheme
During the meeting, the leadership team revealed some details of the planned changes to the new pricing scheme. One of the most significant changes is that Unity will now limit fees to 4% of a game’s revenue for customers earning over $1 million. Previously, the plan had no cap on fees. Furthermore, installations that occurred before the introduction of the new scheme will not be affected.
In addition, Unity has decided to rely on its users to self-report their data instead of using proprietary tools to track installations.
Although these changes have not been announced publicly yet, Unity Create president Marc Whitten mentioned that discussions with partners are ongoing.
CEO John Riccitiello wants to clarify that the new policy aims to maximize revenue from Unity’s biggest customers and will not affect 90% of users.
The Future of Unity
Considering the controversy surrounding Unity’s pricing scheme, many employees are concerned about the company’s recovery and how it can regain the trust of its users. Executives assured them that future communications will be handled more carefully to avoid such controversies.
Riccitiello acknowledged that the company mishandled the announcement and admitted that improvements could be made. However, he also believed that any changes to the pricing scheme would have faced a similar reaction due to its significant impact on the business model.