Unity announces changes to its controversial Runtime Fee policy for creators using the engine

Unity, in an effort to address the backlash it faced due to its recent pricing changes, has clarified its new Runtime Fee structure for developers using the game engine. The company’s revised policy aims to alleviate concerns and support creators who rely on Unity for their game development.

In a blog post shared by Unity Create head Marc Whitten, the company apologized for not engaging with the development community and not considering user feedback before implementing the new fee structure. Unity expressed its commitment to continue supporting creators and announced the changes to the Runtime Fee policy.

For developers using Unity Personal, the new terms eliminate the Runtime Fee entirely. Additionally, the revenue and funding limits for Unity Personal have been raised from $100,000 to $200,000. Developers are also no longer required to include the “Made with Unity” splash screen in their titles and won’t be subject to fees unless their game generates over $1 million in trailing 12-month revenue. This is particularly good news for smaller developers, as a protest against Unity last week saw over a dozen developers shutting off Unity Ads in their games.

Users of Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise will also experience changes in the Runtime Fee policy. Moving forward, the fee will only apply to projects developed using the next long-term support (LTS) version of Unity, which is expected to launch in 2024. Existing games and projects in development will not be required to pay the new Runtime Fee unless they upgrade to a newer version of the engine.

Furthermore, Unity has scrapped the previously proposed changes that would have charged developers for every game installation. Instead, developers will now self-report their user numbers and can choose between paying a 2.5% revenue share to Unity or an amount based on the number of new players engaging with their game each month.

While these changes may not completely resolve the dissatisfaction expressed towards Unity CEO John Riccitiello in recent weeks, they do represent a significant improvement over the previous Runtime Fee policy.