After Unity announced, revised, and then re-announced a new runtime pricing program, the video game development community wanted to know how and why this disastrous development happened.In addition to Letter published Friday by Unity Create President Mark Wittenhe also held Live Fireside Chat on YouTube In it, he addressed some of the community’s biggest questions and concerns.
One of the first things Mr. Witten did was offer an apology, both in writing and in conversation.
“I just want to say I’m sorry,” Whitten said in a Q&A with Jason Wyman, a YouTube creator known for his Unity tutorials. “It’s clear that we didn’t get enough feedback before rolling out the program.”
Since Unity’s initial announcement, one of the first and most important questions we’ve been asked is “Why?” Why add tiered subscription-based services to your current Unity pricing plan? It quickly became universally condemned and quickly retreated.
“It’s clear that we didn’t get enough feedback before rolling out the program.”
“The most basic thing we are trying to do is [build] It’s a sustainable business for Unity,” Whitten replied. He said the runtime fee is intended to be a “balanced exchange” between Unity and its users, incorporating a type of “shared success.”
Additionally, the new plan now offers developers more options. They can pay a fee based on “an amount calculated based on the number of new users who join the game each month,” or a flat 2.5 percent of all revenue, whichever is lower.
(Neither the letter nor the Q&A mention what exactly this “calculated amount” involves) The Verge We’ve reached out to Unity for clarification. )
Whitten’s answer touches on another big “why” question developers had: why didn’t Unity simply introduce revenue share plans in the first place?
“We’re trying to build a model that we think is fair and a valid value exchange for a game that has had some success,” Witten said.
He said the “pay per install” plan is a way for Unity to tie the value of its software to high-performance games that use it, and in most cases it’s a “calculated amount” for developers to pay. I explained that it was better. Unity simply takes a flat 2.5% off the top.
“In a fairly reasonable number of cases, [the calculated amount is] The actual number is much lower, and we think that’s a good thing,” Witten said.
However, Whitten acknowledged that the company has received feedback that implementing such a program would make it difficult for developers to plan their budgets, such as when a game becomes a viral success. . Whitten said the introduction of the revenue share program is a way to provide flexibility to developers, so they always know how much they are owed, while also being able to choose how they want to pay.
Essentially, runtime fees were a way for Unity to capture additional revenue from high-performance games, a sort of “you don’t get paid if you don’t” model. But the company cast a very wide net over how much developers needed to earn before they would start paying, and unilaterally decided how affected developers would pay.
The new plan reduces the number of developers subject to the fee, while also introducing new options for how developers can pay that fee.
Currently, the only games affected by this plan are those that have generated more than $1 million in revenue in the past 12 months and have more than 1 million “new user engagements.”
Engagement as a metric was introduced in Whitten’s letter, but it was not clearly defined. In his Q&A, Whitten elaborated a bit more on what he means by “engagement,” which he defines as “the legitimate users of the software in a particular distribution channel.” These efforts are also self-reported by developers.
He clarified that authorized users are those who do not pirate or refund games obtained through distribution channels, such as in-store purchases or usage from subscription services. It also clarified that engagement is first-time use and does not include people downloading previously purchased games to a new device.
“Our intent is very simple,” Witten said. “This is the first time your game using our runtime engages with a legitimate user on a distribution channel. Use that as a count.”
Unity’s Terms of Service (ToS) was another big topic that dominated the Q&A session. Going back to 2019, Unity has created a dedicated Github page to track changes to our Terms of Service. However, that page was quietly removed shortly before the new runtime fees were introduced. Developers were angry about this and saw Unity as backtracking on its previous transparency efforts.
On social media, Unity’s official account provided an interesting, if not very satisfying, explanation as to why the company removed the ToS Github page.
“We are truly disappointed in how the removal of our terms of service was reported on the internet.” Unity posted on X (formerly Twitter). “We removed it long before the price change was announced because it had very few views, not because we didn’t want people to see it.”
During the Q&A, Whitten admitted that he actually didn’t know about Github pages until recently.But he said the page was restored Unity will also continue to update the ToS on its website. Additionally, as part of this new plan, Unity said it will re-specify the ability for a developer to lock in his ToS for his version of Unity.
“Users need to know that when they start using a version of Unity, they can rely on a set of conditions,” Whitten said. “So we’re going to make sure that’s the case.”
We were also asked what is stopping Unity from changing the Terms of Service again. The company has not yet updated its terms to re-include the ability to “lock in” a particular version of its terms of service. While this is a welcome addition to the pricing changes, the reality is there’s nothing stopping Unity from changing the terms again to remove this.
Basically all the developer has is trust that Unity won’t do that.
“I wrote that letter, but [that] I said in the letter if I didn’t think the company was going to take a stand,” Witten said.
Even with all these changes and walkbacks, it will be difficult for Unity to regain user trust. multiple report say that much.
“We will continue to do our best to earn everyone’s trust,” said Witten. He also said that this can only be done through “actions, not words.”
Whitten explained that Unity introducing a flexible payment model, updating its terms of service, and republishing its Github page are actions to restore trust. But ultimately Whitten acknowledged that it’s up to the community to decide whether these actions are enough.
“I can’t tell you to believe me,” Witten said. “You have to decide that for yourself.”