Unity is one of the most widespread game engines in today’s gaming industry. That’s why it caused a big uproar when the company behind the engine announced dramatic changes to the payment model.
This is what the new model looks like, which comes into force on 1 January 2024.
Unity
Via their websites tells Unity that from next year it will charge for every time a game developed in the engine is installed. The new fee comes into effect when the game has reached a certain number of total downloads and earned kroner from sales.
The change has not gone down well with developers. Many believe they are now being penalized for using the engine, and see the guidelines for the tax as very unreasonable.
As an Axios journalist Stephen Totilo says, after conversations with Unity, each and every game install will count towards the total. If a player deletes a game and reinstalls it, the developer must pay twice. The same applies if one user installs the game on two platforms.
The article continues below.
The developer veteran Rami Ismail points out that the change will entail far greater risk for developers. Among other things, releasing demos – which count as an install – updating games or releasing them on Game Pass will potentially mean big expenses. The use of DRM solutions will probably also become more widespread, predicts Ismail, as pirated copies apparently also count towards the install total.
However, Unity has pointed out that games that are included in charity bundles – such as the 2020 Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality – are exempt.
According to developer George Broussard the changes have also created strong reactions within Unity. Concerns from the company’s employees have reportedly been ignored, and several are now considering quitting in protest. Developers using Unity have also said they would consider switching to other game engines in the future, even if it would involve training and longer time between projects.
Unity tells on X (formerly Twitter) that it has taken note of the concerns, and will return with answers to all the questions that have arisen.
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2023-09-13 00:24:19
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