Matthew Bromberg, the new CEO of Unity who recently took office in May, has announced a major shift in the company’s monetization strategy. The controversial Runtime Fee, which calculated usage costs based on installation numbers, has been scrapped, causing uproar and leading to the departure of the previous CEO. Unity will revert to its old method of charging based on the number of developer licenses (per seat) in response to the backlash.
Last year, Unity faced heavy backlash after introducing a new monetization plan, prompting them to take a step back and allow developers to report player numbers themselves instead of changing the monetization method for older engine versions.
In their latest announcement, Unity has decided to abandon the installation-based usage fee model and return to charging based on the number of licenses. However, the downside is that licensing fees will increase, with Unity justifying the hike as a means to fund further development of the game engine.
The new (actually old) licensing model offered by Unity includes three tiers:
1. Unity Personal remains free with a revenue cap of $200,000 per year for developers and offers the option to omit the “Made with Unity” screen at game start.
2. Unity Pro targets games with revenue exceeding $200,000 per year and raises licensing fees to $2,200 yearly (an 8% increase).
3. Unity Enterprise caters to games generating over $25 million in revenue per year, increasing licensing fees by 25% from the previous rates.
The new monetization structure will take effect on January 1, 2025.
TLDR: Unity’s new CEO, Matthew Bromberg, has decided to scrap the Runtime Fee model and revert to charging based on the number of developer licenses, albeit with increased licensing fees starting in 2025.
Leave a Comment