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Unity Software Inc. updated its new fee structure Friday in an apology to game developers, announcing a revenue share/engagement option that will go into effect in 2024.
Earlier in the week, Unity shares fell as the company said it was “listening” to the backlash from game developers, after several switched off Unity’s ad-monetization. That was in response to new fees announced on Sept. 12 that Unity would be charging certain game developers a fee every time their game was downloaded.
“I want to start with this:” wrote Marc Whitten, head of Unity Create. “I’m sorry.”
“We should have spoken with more of you and we should have incorporated more of your feedback before announcing our new Runtime Fee policy,” Whitten said. “Our goal with this policy is to ensure we can continue to support you today and tomorrow, and keep deeply investing in our game engine.”
For games created on Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise, the company said the Runtime Fee policy will only apply beginning with the next Long Term Support version of Unity that will ship in 2024 and beyond.
“For games that are subject to the runtime fee, we are giving you a choice of either a 2.5% revenue share or the calculated amount based on the number of new people engaging with your game each month,” the open letter read. “Both of these numbers are self-reported from data you already have available. You will always be billed the lesser amount.”
Under the new plan, games made on Unity Personal “will remain free and there will be no Runtime Fee for games built on Unity Personal,” the company said in an open letter posted on the company’s blog.
“We will be increasing the cap from $100,000 to $200,000 and we will remove the requirement to use the Made with Unity splash screen,” according to the post. “No game with less than $1 million in trailing 12-month revenue will be subject to the fee.”
Unity
U,
shares were flat in Friday trading, having climbed as much as 2.8% earlier in the session. For the week, shares are down more than 12%, while the S&P 500 index
SPX
is down 2.8%.
