Currently Unity charges annual fees for the various subscription plans it offers for the use of its game software development engine on a per-seat basis. It recently announced that, for games that reach certain thresholds (based on the revenue generated by the game in the last 12 months and the number of lifetime installs), it will charge a further “Unity Runtime Fee” each time a game is downloaded by a user. The rate would be between $0.01-0.20 per install, selected by reference to the quantity of installs (i.e. downloads), the install’s country of origin and the developer’s Unity annual subscription plan. The new fee would become payable from January 2024 applying only to installs after that, but including those on existing games. For customers on certain subscription plans or who purchase certain other Unity services, volume discounts and credits would be available. In its FAQs, Unity stated that it will be using its own proprietary data model to collect the install data.

Significant concerns from the games industry have been reported including calls for competition authorities to examine the games engine market. Unity has stated that it has heard the concerns and will be making changes to the new policy.

To access the Unity announcement, click here.