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Unity reaching for gamedev money meme.

Unity Installation Fee Controversy

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Updated Sep 17, 2023 at 03:39PM EDT by NeatCrown.

Added Sep 12, 2023 at 07:45PM EDT by Philipp.

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Overview

Unity Installation Fee Controversy refers to a controversy surrounding video game engine developer Unity Technologies imposing a per-installation fee on games based on its proprietary engine Unity, effective starting January 2024. The change was followed by widespread backlash from video game developers who developed or are developing their games on Unity, as well as generating controversy among gamers and spawning memes about the contentious move in September 2023.

Background

On September 12th, 2023, Unity Technologies,[1][2] a software development company best known for its cross-platform engine of the same name, announced that it was introducing a change to its business model, updating its subscription plans and adding a Unity Runtime Fee, meaning that the company plans to charge video game developers and publishers up to $0.20 per an instance of a game based on Unity Engine being installed (announcement X post and pricing table shown below, left and right).


Unity @unity Today we announced a change to our business model which includes new additions to our subscription plans, and the introduction of a Runtime fee. We wanted to provide clarifying answers to the top questions most of you are asking. Yes, this is a price increase and it will only affect a small subset of current Unity Editor users. Today, a large majority of Unity Editor users are currently not paying anything and will not be affected by this change. The Unity Runtime fee will not impact the majority of our developers. The developers who will be impacted are generally those who have successful games and are generating revenue way above the thresholds we outlined in our blog. This means that developers who are still building their business and growing the audience of their games will not pay a fee. The program was designed specifically this way to ensure developers could find success before the install fee takes effect. We want to be clear that the counter for Unity Runtime fee installs starts on January 1, 2024 - it is not retroactive or perpetual. We will charge once for a new install; not an ongoing perpetual license royalty, like revenue share. We looked for ways to lessen the impact on developers, and provide ways to bring the Runtime fee to zero. If you're using any of our ad products, Unity Gaming Services or cloud services, etc. please contact us to discuss discounts. We are actively listening to and following your questions closely. Please review our FAQ (on.unity.com/3PAiqHH) on today's announcement. We also invite you to continue to discuss these changes with us on our forums: on.unity.com/3RmyLRx. 1:32 PM . Sep 12, 2023 · 1.2M Views Unity Runtime Fee thresholds to be met Revenue Threshold (USD) Install Threshold Installs over the Install Threshold 1-100,000 100,001- 500,000 500,001- 1,000,000 1,000,001+ Installs over the Install Threshold Unity Personal and Unity Plus 1+ $200,000 (last 12mo) 200,000 (life to date) Standard monthly rate $0.20 per install Unity Pro $0.02 per install $1,000,000 (last 12mo) 1,000,000 (life to date) $0.15 per install $0.075 per install $0.03 per install $0.02 per install Emerging market monthly rate $0.01 per install Unity Enterprise $1,000,000 (last 12mo) 1,000,000 (life to date) $0.125 per install $0.06 per install $0.02 per install $0.01 per install $0.005 per install

The change, effective on January 1st, 2024, applies to Unity Engine-based games that exceeded both the install threshold of 200,000 copies (1 million copies for Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise users) and a revenue threshold of $200,000 ($1 million for Unity Pro and Enterprise users).

On September 12th, game development news website Game Developer[3] reported on the pricing policy change, with the tweet garnering over 3,100 retweets and quote tweets and 2,500 likes on X[4] in one day.

Developments

Later on September 12th, 2023, journalist Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo)[5] reported that the company provided clarifications regarding its new fees, writing that reinstallation of a game will indeed result in two charges and that charity games and bundles are exempt from the fees (shown below, left). Later, Totilo provided another update,[11] reporting that Unity "regrouped" and was now saying it would only charge for the initial installation and that Game Pass installations would not count toward the threshold (shown below, right).


Stephen Totilo @stephentotilo I got some clarifications from Unity regarding their plan to charge developers per game install (after clearing thresholds) - If a player deletes a game and re-installs it, that's 2 installs, 2 charges - Same if they install on 2 devices - Charity games/bundles exempted from fees Game Developer @gamedevdotcom. 22h Unity introducing new fee attached to game installs gamedeveloper.com/business/unity... Unity 3:30 PM. Sep 12, 2023 3.3M Views ... Stephen Totilo @stephentotilo NEW - I got a major update from Unity about their new fees - Unity "regrouped" and now says ONLY the initial installation of a game triggers a fee - Demos mostly won't trigger fees - Devs not on the hook for Game Pass More here: unity Qunit axios.com Unity rushes to clarify price increase plan, as game developers fume Demos, Game Pass downloads and re-installations won't all trigger fees. 9:17 PM - Sep 12, 2023 1.6M Views

Online Reactions

Starting on September 12th, 2023, the introduction of the fee became a subject of viral debates on social media, primarily on X where game developers and publishers criticized the change. For example, on September 12th, video game developer Rami Ismail (@tha_rami) wrote instead of review-bombing unhappy fanbases can now resort to "mass install-campaigns." The tweet received over 1,100 retweets and 12,500 likes on X[6] in one day (shown below, left).

Later that day, streamer @KrisWolfeheart[7] posted a viral greentext about piracy, commenting, "Unity is making this real." The post received over 7,300 reposts and 59,600 likes in one day (shown below, center). The developer of the viral indie game Crab Game (@DaniDevYT)[8] posted a screenshot in which he calculated the amount of money he would owe Unity if his games got all of their existing installations after the change came into effect. The post (shown below, right) received over 2,600 retweets and 38,600 likes in one day.


(رامي) Rami Ismail @tha_rami If you're a Unity developing studio, good luck if you ever piss off your userbase. Instead of tanking your Metacritic with a mass review-campaign they can now straight-up tank you financially by organizing a mass install- campaign. 11:46 AM . Sep 12, 2023 414.6K Views kriswolfheart.bsky.social @krisWolfheart Unity is making this real : Anonymous 10/23/19(Wed)21:52:08 No.482626138 >pirate game 1 KB PNG >delete it and download it again 9 more times >company loses $600 12:30 PM. Sep 12, 2023 · 1.2M Views Dani @DaniDevYT aaah s--- i guess i owe Unity $5,600,000 anyone got some spare change? Installs over the Install Threshold 1-100,000 100,001- 500,000 500,001- 1,000,000 New Unity fee Unity Personal and Unity Plus 1,000,001+ Standard monthly rate $0.20 per install Unity Pro $0.15 per install $0.075 per install $0.03 per install Unity Enterprise 1:35 PM. Sep 12, 2023 1.8M Views $0.125 per install $0.06 per install $0.02 per install $0.01 per install Game: Muck My games Game: Crab Game $0.02 per install (downloads) (downloads) Lifetime free licenses (?) 16,400,141 Lifetime free licenses (?) 12,162,883 Lifetime total units (?) 12,162,912 Lifetime total units (?) 16,400,180 28,000,000 x 0.20$ = 5,600,000$ :

Some users wrote that Unity was likely to get sued by major publishers over the introduced change, as studios such as Blizzard, Nintendo and HoYoverse (developers of Genshin Impact) used the engine in their games. Video game developer and writer Xalavier Nelson Jr. wrote[10] that he was aware of a group of developers planning to file a class-action lawsuit against Unity. The posts (shown below, left) received over 1,400 reposts and 20,100 likes in one day. Video game developer David Szymanski[12] made a post about major publishers potentially suing Unity which received over 670 retweets and 11,900 likes in one day (shown below, right).


Xalavier Nelson Jr. @WritNelson • 13h ...I'm hearing at least one significant group of developers is talking a class-action lawsuit against Unity. H--------. 125 t 1,409 David Szymanski @DUSKdev How do I contact them 19.2K ₁604.6K 6:59 PM Sep 12, 2023 65.4K Views ↑ : David Szymanski @DUSKdev. 10h Amusing myself by reading through the list of Unity games and trying to guess which companies' lawyers will be the first to go full scorched earth. t 620 45 David Szymanski @DUSKdev 10.2K That seems a bit risky lol 9:31 PM Sep 12, 2023 · 51.9K Views ₁188.5K ↑ Like, Unity can f--- with indie devs all day and get away with it but when you're f------ with the revenue of GENSHIN IMPACT, POKEMON, AND BLIZZARD

Insider Trading Rumors

On September 12th, 2023, X[13] user @Jakob_Wahlberg shared an article about Unity Software Inc's CEO John Riccitiello selling 2,000 shares of the company six days before the company announced the new fee. Also that day, X user @ItsLaneLIVE[14] posted a list of recent stock sales by Unity insiders, including co-founder David Helgason selling 12,500 shares worth over $9 million six days before the announcement.

Various Examples


YOU WOULDN'T INSTALL A UNITY GAME Ultima New Era @UltimaShadowX NOW IS OUR TIME, GAMERS Anonymous 36 KB JPG 05/14/20(Thu)15:56:14 No.507945510 >pirate game >company loses $60 >delete game >company receives back $60 >pirate game 1 million times >company loses $60M and declares bankrupcy >buy company for a few dollars and become CEO >delete all the pirated copies >$60M deposited in my account >suddenly CEO of my own game company with millions to make my dream game HEY GAMERS! Today, Unity (the engine we use to make our games) announced that they'll soon be taking a fee from developers for every copy of the game installed over a certain threshold - regardless of how that copy was obtained. Guess who has a somewhat highly anticipated game coming to Xbox Game Pass in 2024? That's right, it's us and a lot of other developers. That means Another Crab's Treasure will be free to install for the 25 million Game Pass subscribers. If a fraction of those users download our game, Unity could take a fee that puts an enormous dent in our income and threatens the sustainability of our business. And that's before we even think about sales on other platforms, or pirated installs of our game, or even multiple installs by the same user!!! This decision puts us and countless other studios in a position where we might not be able to justify using Unity for our future titles. If these changes aren't rolled back, we'll be heavily considering abandoning our wealth of Unity expertise we've accumulated over the years and starting from scratch in a new engine. Which is really something we'd rather not do. On behalf of the dev community, we're calling on Unity to reverse the latest in a string of shortsighted decisions that seem to prioritize shareholders over their product's actual users. I f------ hate it here. -Aggro Crab
Made With Godot @madewithgodot The end of an era. But also...the start of another. Unity @unity - 7h Today we announced a change to our business model which includes new additions to our subscription plans, and the introduction of a Runtime fee. We wanted to provide clarifying answers to the top questions most of you are asking. Yes, this is a price increase and it will only... Show more 12:49 PM - Sep 12, 2023-470.6K Views : Thaddeus Crews @Repiteo Oh god, I didn't even consider this It's not just the developers that'll be avoiding Unity; they've fumbled so hard that now PUBLISHERS aren't gonna want to associate with it Imagine a painting being rejected from a gallery because the FRAME has royalties; that's this situation Devolver Digital @devolverdigital. 15h Definitely include what engine you're using in game pitches. It's important information! 4:41 PM Sep 12, 2023 389.6K Views Luke Correia @LukeCorreiaVA setting up a botnet to rapidly install and uninstall unity games across thousands of computers, bankrupting every game development studio in the world in seconds Stephen Totilo @stephentotilo. 15h I got some clarifications from Unity regarding their plan to charge developers per game install (after clearing thresholds) - If a player deletes a game and re-installs it, that's 2 installs, 2 charges Same if they install on 2 devices - Charity games/bundles exempted from fees twitter.com/gamedevdotcom/... 5:30 PM. Sep 12, 2023 14.6K Views

Search Interest

External References

[1] X – @unity

[2] Unity – Unity plan pricing and packaging updates

[3] X – @stephentotilo

[4] Game Developer – Unity introducing new fee attached to game installs

[5] X – @unity

[6] X – @tha_rami

[7] X – @KrisWolfheart

[8] X – @DaniDevYT

[10] X – @WritNelson

[11] X – @stephentotilo

[12] X – @DUSKdev

[13] X – @Jakob_Wahlberg

[14] X – @ItsLaineLIVE

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Top Comments

Mand'alor
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Mand'alor

"It's only 20 cents. What's the big deeeeeeeal?"

Let's say you make a Unity game for fun. You post it online for feedback from your friends, and it unexpectedly goes viral. You did not charge a penny for your game, and will not make a penny for it.

1,200,000 people download and install your free game.

The personal plan only gives you an initial threshold of 200k installs. The remaining 1 million users are charged, as part of the fee. According to the post, this is a one-time fee. According to the chart, it is monthly.

1,000,000 times $0.20 equals $200,000. You now owe $200,000, and you have never made a single penny off of your game.

This is insanity.

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