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What is the Unity controversy? Why are developers so upset over its recent announcement?
Unity Technologies, the maker of popular game development tools, announced a new fee for installing games made using its software. Unity faced immediate and widespread backlash from game developers and gamers alike, both for the fee and for changing subscription terms on short notice.
Despite later backpedaling on some of the changes later, the damage to Unity may be irreparable.
Unity Is in Deep Water
Unity Technologies prompted a video game industry uproar when it announced it would charge game developers a small fee each time a user installed a game made with Unity software. Here’s a background on Unity and the Unity’s controversy over its policy changes.
Background: What Is Unity?
Unity Technologies is best known for its game engine, a suite of software tools for developing video games. Using a game engine is a common practice in the video game industry to save time during the development process, since it means programmers won’t have to design all of their software from the ground up. The Unity engine is especially popular among independent developers and small studios for being relatively easy to use while producing high-quality games.
Pay-Per-Download Model Raises Concerns
On September 12, 2023, Unity Technologies announced it would start implementing a “Unity Runtime” fee on games made with the Unity engine. This means that game developers using Unity software would have to pay a small amount of money each time a user installs a copy of their game. This is in addition to Unity’s annual subscription fees, which would remain unchanged.
The new fee, set to take effect on January 1, 2024, sparked immediate outrage from game developers. Aside from objecting to the impact on their profits, game creators raised several concerns about the new policy, including:
- Malicious actors. Since the fee is per install, people could theoretically install and uninstall the same game thousands of times, thereby slamming developers with enormous charges.
- Charity bundles. It’s common practice for developers to donate copies of their games to charity bundles like Humble Bundle. If developers are charged each time one of these donated games is installed, they could stand to lose a great deal of money.
- Subscription services. Subscription-based programs like Microsoft’s PC Game Pass give players access to hundreds of games for a flat monthly rate. Much like the charity bundles, this would mean that developers could be charged for hundreds or thousands of installations from people who never actually purchased their games.
However, for other industry experts, the biggest problem is that this change would impact people who had subscribed to Unity under different terms. As veteran game developer Rami Ismail pointed out, retroactively changing the details of an agreement is a massive breach of trust. Furthermore, Unity announced the new fee just a few months before planning to implement it.
Unity Backpedals
Since the announcement and the online firestorm it sparked, Unity has been racing to clarify the new policies and soothe developers’ worries. Some of the company’s statements include:
- For subscription services such as PC Game Pass, the service will be responsible for the Runtime Fee, rather than the game developers.
- Games offered as part of a charity bundle will be exempt from the Runtime Fee.
- Developers will only be charged the first time each user installs a game onto a device.
- The new policy targets developers with hugely successful games, who are making profits well above the thresholds Unity set for the Runtime Fee. Unity estimates that fewer than 10% of its customers will be affected by the change.
Despite these clarifications, many developers say that the damage to Unity’s reputation has already been done.
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