Unity apologizes and says games made with Unity Personal will be exempt from its Runtime Fee, which will only apply to games made with Unity versions from 2024
The fee is no longer retroactive. … Joshua Robertson / TheGamer : Unity Says “Sorry”, Rolls Back Some Download Fees Spitblaze / Corndog Formica : GOOD NEWS: Unity has announced that games made on current (pre-2024) and older versions of Unity … Nikki Main / Gizmodo : Unity Introduces New Pricing Model Following Developer Mutiny Grace Benfell / GameSpot : Following Controversial Changes, Unity Unveils Revamped Policy For Developers Kate Irwin / Decrypt : Unity Apologizes, Walks Back Fee Changes After Game Developer Backlash Thomas Wilde / GeekWire : Unity's Marc Whitten shares apology note following backlash to controversial licensing policies Gabriel Machado Pureza / Game Rant : Unity Changes How Fees Work After Backlash Rafly Pratama / MSPoweruser : Unity boss announces changes to runtime fee policy after community's backlash in an open letter Alex Stedman / IGN : Unity to Roll Back Some Key Aspects of Runtime Fee Policy Brendan Sinclair / GamesIndustry.biz : Unity kills Runtime Fee for Personal users, offers rev share for others Daniel Griffiths / Pocket Gamer.biz : Unity back down: “I am sorry”... But the Runtime Fee stays Neil Long / Mobilegamer.biz : Unity says sorry - again - and reveals its revised pricing plan Jaspreet Singh / Reuters : Unity Software rolls back parts of new pricing policy after backlash Blue's News : Unity Reverses Course on Fees Ty Galiz-Rowe / Dot Esports : Unity apologizes for controversial fee changes in open letter—live call to follow Threads: @dilmerv : These are amazing news from unity and I can't hesitate how happy I am with these new changes 🎉🔥, here is a summary: - Marc Whitten, head of Unity Create, apologizes for the new Runtime Fee policy announcement. - Acknowledges the need for more community involvement and feedback. … Mastodon: @MrCheeze@wetdry.world : Better than expected update from Unity, tbh. — https://blog.unity.com/... - Not retroactive, only applies to future Unity versions — Doesn't apply to personal (and personal no longer has the splash screen, making it similar to the old plus) … @clayzulah@mastodon.gamedev.place : This is such a relief. Still unacceptable that Unity ever tried to pull this off but I'm so glad I & other devs can get back to making our games without the specter of insane retroactive install fees hanging over our heads ☺️ — (Still keeping a big folder of Godot tutorials handy for my next game though 👀) … Rune Skovbo Johansen / @runevision@mastodon … : Unity's adjusted changes addresses all the things they *could* address: — Now only applies to future Unity versions. — Revenue > $1m now has at most 2.5% royalties. — Unity Personal now has the rev cap Plus used to + does not require the Unity logo. — https://blog.unity.com/... … @mcc@mastodon.social : So here's what Unity says the new pricing policy is, today (assuming it doesn't change again next week, like it did last week, and the week before). — https://blog.unity.com/... Critical thoughts: — 1. The fact that the new fees *only apply to future versions* is the critical change here, and probably(?) avoids a lawsuit. … @HeroOfDermwood@mastodon.social : So, these changes sound reasonable, but the fact of the matter is that they have proven themselves to be untrustworthy. They have changed things at the drop of a hat. There is nothing stopping them from doing that again. — If you have already made the choice to leave Unity for another engine, then stick to that choice. … Bluesky: @danilo.redeem-tomorrow.com : Unity is 53% below its IPO. I don't think torching the network of developers that gives its platform value is going to reverse that trend. Wild to see all of these mature companies sign up for the same category of self-destructive mistake. [embedded post] Stacy-Marie Ishmael / @smi.bsky.social : today's corporate apology, Unity Edition https://blog.unity.com/... X: @unity : Here is an open letter to our community: https://blog.unity.com/... @qntm : Screwdriver manufacturer announces that it will now charge $0.015 for every screw driven, in addition to the annual leasing fee When asked, they said “We just know somehow” George Broussard / @georgebsocial : Unity did well here. Sort of nailed it. This is more of a walk back than anyone could have expected. - removed the retroactive nature - not install based - kicks in on v2023LTS+ that ships in 2024 - requires $1m in yearly revenue, then 2.5% and you self report - This will only... Rami Ismail / @tha_rami : You know what, on first glance, I think this works? It's effectively a 2.5% revenue share for $1M+p/y earners? No retroactivity left, LTS stability, no black-box data, yeah? I think that works for every use-case. https://blog.unity.com/... @structed : @reduzio IMO, the new change is just a little bit better. They didn't address the trust issue, and and this “only new LTS will have the new mode” is no so much better than starting with the first 2024 version, as everyone who is going to consoles will need to take the update. @thafnine : this is a better deal than unreal, ironically enough, but the trust has already been broken. the fact that unity almost went through with an asinine update to their policy without warning kind of tells developers that they can do it again Juan Linietsky / @reduzio : Very happy that Unity removed the retroactivity of their new fees. I happy for anyone moving to Godot but, as I said before, at their own pace and will. Doing it forced by a stressful situation can never be a good experience. Juan Linietsky / @reduzio : So, basically now running a business or offering products and services over Unity is a massive risk because they offer you better terms if their use their services. Is this not abuse of dominant position? Great way to kill off the competition, hope they don't get away with it. [image] @reisartjunk : 1) The stupid-ass install fee is still there, making this a completely useless statement. 2) The person apologizing has NOTHING to do with this decision and shouldn't be the one who should be saying sorry. 3) It's pointless, trust has completely been broken. No walking back. Tyler Glaiel / @tylerglaiel : @tha_rami well there's still the issue that they may increase that revshare over time for new versions of unity so that has to be taken into account still. I view it as just a basic reassurance that you can finish your current projects without much concern Sam Handrick / @mdsveritas : Yeah this policy is a lot better. As someone who works on a Unity personal project it's been a weird bummer of a week but I'm glad that people responded as loudly as they did and that Unity finally moved to a fairly good policy here. @freyaholmer : • only applies to 2023.x LTS or later • TOS will be per-unity version, no more retroactive changes • 2.5% rev share OR based on “number of unique users” as self-reported. sales is an acceptable metric for this • no more splash screen on unity personal https://blog.unity.com/... @hakitadev : There, you can stop asking me how this will affect ULTRAKILL's development now, ULTRAKILL uses version 2019.4.40. Still a really stupid system and they clearly burned some bridges and lost all trust, though. @wario64 : Unity updated runtime fee: -Unity Personal plan remains free with no runtime fee. Cap increases from $100k to $200k -No game with less than $1 million in trailing 12-month revenue will be subject to the fee. More info: https://blog.unity.com/... [image] @grahamoflegend : @tha_rami If they had dropped this as the initial thing, they would have been in a much better place. But the trust I have for the company was already dwindling and it's all but vanished now. It's sad to see things happen this way. @mikeisaac : Unity makes some changes to its controversial pricing plan, though will still push ahead with the new pricing model — also apologizes bigly https://blog.unity.com/... LinkedIn: Michael Metzger : Update on the Unity: for Unity Pro & Enterprise, the Runtime Fee policy will only apply beginning with the next LTS version of Unity shipping in 2024 and beyond. … Forums: Hacker News : An open letter to our community r/gamernews : Unity Announces Revised Pricing Policy Following Massive Backlash From Developers r/gamedev : Unity finally breaks silence. Changes only apply to LTS 2024, increases threshold for personal plan, removes requirement for splash screen and reduces fees to 2.5% rev share. r/GuardianTales : Good News about the Unity Policy change for GT Devs! r/TwoBestFriendsPlay : Unity backdown with new terms r/gamedev : Unity Pricing Update r/gaming : An open letter to our community | Unity Blog r/XboxSeriesX : An open letter to our community | Unity Blog r/Unity3D : Unity: An open letter to our community r/Games : Unity: An open letter to our community
Context & Ripple Effects
Unity’s original installation-based fee proposal tied charges to a game’s installations and plan tier, creating concern over a pricing change that could reach already-released games.
After Unity acknowledged developer frustration and considered a revenue cap at an all-hands meeting, this revision narrows the policy’s reach and removes its retroactive element. It matters because developers’ choice of engine depends heavily on whether commercial terms remain predictable across a game’s lifecycle.
First-order effects
- Developers using Unity Personal, and teams shipping on pre-2024 Unity versions, are removed from the Runtime Fee’s stated scope.
- Unity must administer the fee only for games made with 2024-and-later versions, while attempting to restore trust after the discussion of a possible revenue cap.
Second-order effects
- Studios weighing engine upgrades gain a clearer reason to assess the cost of moving to a 2024 Unity release rather than treating the fee as an immediate obligation for existing projects.
- Competing engines can continue to position licensing predictability as a differentiator, while Unity’s revised terms reduce the urgency for affected developers to switch.
Third-order effects
- The episode underscores that engine monetization changes can be constrained by developer dependence on stable, long-lived tooling terms—not solely by the vendor’s preferred pricing model.
- If such reversals recur, game-engine vendors may face pressure to separate new commercial terms from legacy versions and make upgrade-linked pricing more explicit.
The trend: Game-engine vendors are testing new monetization models, but developer backlash is making predictable, version-bound pricing a competitive requirement.