Game engine Unity made a decision that angered the developers. The company announced that it will start receiving money per download from developers starting January 1, 2024. This decision may cause new price increases in the games.
There was an important development that confused the video game world. Popular game engine unityannounced that it has made changes to its subscription packages for developers. The company will receive money per download from developers as of January 1, 2024. Moreover, if the same player installs or deletes and restores a game on 2 devices, the developer will also be responsible for this. will have to pay extra. All of this looks like it could lead to an increase in video game prices.
Until now, Unity offered several subscription packages such as “Pro”, “Enterprise” and “Industry”. The developer would choose the most suitable package and pay accordingly. This will change on January 1, 2024. The developer next to the subscription package he purchased will pay per download. The price per download may also vary depending on factors such as the subscription package purchased and the market in which the game is sold. In this context; a developer charges $0.005 for each download of a game up to $0.2 will have to pay.
Developers react
The statement made on Unity’s official website has shocked the developers. So much so that some developers believe that can be abused They say they are right. An AI-powered algorithm could target a developer and force fictitious downloads. This means that the developer is financially to suffer losses will lead. On the other hand; Small independent developers say they will lose revenue as a result.
These are not the only reactions of developers. Pirate and demo versions also became a matter of controversy due to the decision. Some developers argue that the sudden decision, which will be implemented only a few months later, obliges developers to do so. Ultimately, porting any published or unpublished game to another game engine It’s not an easy job.
Unity is defending itself, but there are too many uncertainties…
*New price table shared by Unity.
Unity made statements regarding the reasons for the decision in question. Also, developers to be protected It was also said that it would continue. In its defense, Unity said that the Unity Runtime service is reinstalled every time a game is downloaded, and emphasized that they had to increase their revenues to improve the engine. Explaining that the additional charging system will be activated when certain thresholds are exceeded, the company stated that this will cause a huge loss of income for developers. will not lead argues.
Let’s explain this like this: Let’s say there is a developer using Unity Plus. Once this developer achieves $200k in revenue and 200k downloads, they will have to pay $0.2 for each download. If you are a developer with a Pro subscription after the threshold is exceeded It will pay $0.15 for up to 100 thousand downloads, and $0.075 for every download between 100,001 and 500 thousand. Finally; Unity is a tool for developers reporting system Let’s also say that it will create . The developer will be able to report fake downloads through this system. Of course, we do not know yet whether this system will be effective or not…