Unity, with a new CEO at the helm, is canceling its unpopular runtime fee effective immediately.
Unity, the company behind the popular game engine of the same name, has officially canceled its runtime fee — a controversial move introduced last year that outraged game developers.
In a Unity website blog post, CEO Matt Bromberg said the company will be reverting back to its subscription model immediately after its new Unity Runtime Fee, which charged developers who met certain thresholds extra per user install, went over like a lead balloon when it was introduced last year. Not only was it confusing enough that the company had to make multiple clarifications, but users revolted. Some developers, like Innersloth, Aggro Crab, and Red Hook Studios, released statements condemning the move.
Unity will be moving back to a classic subscription model with a couple of changes to the tiers. The Unity Personal tier, which is free, will have a higher revenue ceiling: from $100,000 to $200,000. It’ll also only implement changes once a year instead of surprising developers like it did last year with the runtime fee.
