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.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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20 comments
We have to wholeheartedly thank them for sending many devs to Godot, and increasing its fundrising!
39 Likes, Who?
Linux_Rocks Sep 12
0 Likes
While Unity cancels their stupid runtime fee, Godot remains completely free...
27 Likes, Who?
mr-victory Sep 12
They hadn't cancelled that already?
7 Likes, Who?
I'm glad Godot continues to gain ground over Unity since it wasn't a smart decision to implemented this fee that they're now canceling.
Last edited by ToddL on 12 September 2024 at 5:21 pm UTC
Last edited by ToddL on 12 September 2024 at 5:21 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
Let's hope Unity 6 will help us to get many great native Linux games. Proton is good, but after all it's not 100% Linux...
2 Likes, Who?
DOH! The damage is done. Many devs learned a lesson that they shall soon not forget.
6 Likes, Who?
ElectricPrism Sep 12
May 1, 2024 -- Unity Appoints Matthew Bromberg as New CEO
This man was installed like a toilet. Either his mission was to run the company into the ground (stock market people do this all the time and short-sale the stock so they can get millions of dollars of free money) or to bring the gaming industry under surveillance and control of whomever his masters are.
I have never seen such a BOLD FUCK YOU to this industry, especially the indies. Always online editor? Pay per install? This man is a shark and should step down as CEO and all the other executives should get checked for corruption for letting this happen.
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I do have to give the industry credit though. And the consequences were that godot gained a lot of traction. No backsies -- I like it better this way.
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This guy is the Rick Berman of gaming.
4 Likes, Who?
I can't really call it "too little, too late". But it may be the right amount, too late. I feel like they've lost quite a bit of momentum and this won't really put it back.
Long live Godot! (and other open source engines)
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 12 September 2024 at 7:45 pm UTC
Long live Godot! (and other open source engines)
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 12 September 2024 at 7:45 pm UTC
6 Likes, Who?
This man is a shark and should step down as CEO and all the other executives should get checked for corruption for letting this happen.
Wrong guy.
John Riccitiello was the CEO that killed trust in Unity. He's already gone.
Matthew Bromberg got rid of the Unity Runtime nonsense, as described in this article.
6 Likes, Who?
They hadn't cancelled that already?
I'm not sure if I know all the steps in between, but I think first change was to remove retroactive part of the license change. That was the part causing biggest panic. After that at least there were better options of avoiding runtime fee than removing all released Unity games from all stores.
2 Likes, Who?
ShadowXeldron Sep 12
In my eyes, they've already done the damage. I already wasn't big on the fact that Unity is a proprietary engine, but the runtime fee just made me feel questionable about running Unity games.
Well, if anything it's gotten more eyes on Godot. In fact, I'm learning Rust and Godot for hobbyist game development projects.
Well, if anything it's gotten more eyes on Godot. In fact, I'm learning Rust and Godot for hobbyist game development projects.
4 Likes, Who?
Mountain Man Sep 12
They hadn't cancelled that already?That was my thought. I guess they expected things to settle down after the initial backlash, and developers would start handing them money again, but that obviously never happened.
Last edited by Mountain Man on 12 September 2024 at 11:55 pm UTC
0 Likes
a link incase the img above doesn't work.
a Link incase the img above doesn't work.
GMTK Jam charts back to 2020
Godot is now a Bulwark. I doubt Unity is going to do anything to earn back all the good will they lost.
Last edited by Highball on 13 September 2024 at 1:34 am UTC
14 Likes, Who?
Ouch. That's quite a shift.
a link incase the img above doesn't work.
a Link incase the img above doesn't work.
GMTK Jam charts back to 2020
Godot is now a Bulwark. I doubt Unity is going to do anything to earn back all the good will they lost.
3 Likes, Who?
Unity has become an irrelevant part of the gaming dev world with their last extortion attempt.
They tried to do some damage control, but it didn't really do much, the damage was already too massive.
Now they are trying a come back, hoping for this "wow news worthy" ad-campaing to restore their lost glory.
It's done Jack, time to bury her. Leave it.
They tried to do some damage control, but it didn't really do much, the damage was already too massive.
Now they are trying a come back, hoping for this "wow news worthy" ad-campaing to restore their lost glory.
It's done Jack, time to bury her. Leave it.
2 Likes, Who?
Dana Souly Sep 13
Well, we here in Germany have a piece of wisdom for Unity:
He who lies once, you won't believe,
And when he speaks the truth, you'll grieve.
He who lies once, you won't believe,
And when he speaks the truth, you'll grieve.
0 Likes
I still refuse to use Unity for anything I actually care about ever again. I was trying to move away from it before since I wanted more control over my licensing, now I am definitely glad I did. I know they're going to try and repeat this stunt in the future.
Last edited by bonkmaykr on 17 September 2024 at 4:08 am UTC
Last edited by bonkmaykr on 17 September 2024 at 4:08 am UTC
1 Likes, Who?
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