Unity cancels the stupid Runtime Fee

After a complete disaster a while ago that saw many developers jump-ship, and cause a huge PR problem, Unity have now cancelled the Runtime Fee.

Instead, they're reverting back to the seat-based subscription model for gaming customers, however they said "Non-gaming Industry customers are not impacted by this modification". This applies to everyone using Unity for gaming, even those that choose to upgrade to Unity 6.

In the post written by Matt Bromberg, the President and CEO of Unity, they mentioned they will go with a "more traditional cycle of considering any potential price increases only on an annual basis" and that "if we change the Editor software terms in ways that impact you, you may continue using your current version of the software under the previously agreed terms". Hopefully they actually keep to that properly this time.

What the plans will look like now:

• Unity Personal: As announced last year, Unity Personal will remain free, and we’ll be doubling the current revenue and funding ceiling from $100,000 to $200,000 USD. This means more of you can use Unity at no cost. The Made with Unity splash screen will become optional for Unity Personal games made with Unity 6 when it launches later this year.
• Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise: We’ll be modifying subscription pricing and the qualifying annual revenue thresholds, effective January 1, 2025. These changes will apply to all new and existing Unity Pro and Enterprise customers when you purchase, upgrade, or renew a subscription on or after this date.
  • Unity Pro: An 8% subscription price increase to $2,200 USD annually per seat will apply to Unity Pro. Unity Pro will be required for customers with more than $200,000 USD of total annual revenue and funding.
  • Unity Enterprise: A 25% subscription price increase will apply to Unity Enterprise. Unity Enterprise will be required for customers with more than $25 million USD of total annual revenue and funding. A minimum subscription requirement may also apply. Because this set of our largest customers have unique needs and use many of our products and services, we’ll be contacting everyone in the days ahead to discuss customized packages.

Pretty big bump in prices there for Pro and Enterprise though.

This is a nice win for game developers, because it really was a stupid policy having an individual install fee.