In the current video game industry, it’s rare to find a studio that uses its own engine. The pie is mainly divided between two major engines, Unity and Unreal Engine, with Godot being a distant third in terms of usage. That’s why any changes in the policies of the companies that produce these engines, Unity and Epic respectively, are closely scrutinized. However, the recent changes in Unity’s business policies don’t require a close examination to see why they are causing quite a stir.
Unity is a game engine that has been used to create games like Pokémon Go, Cult of the Lamb, Cuphead, or Fall Guys. It’s used for all kinds of games, both indie and large-scale productions, and up until now, it employed a subscription-based model. And we have to emphasize the “up until now.”
In Unity, there are three licensing tiers. Unity Personal allows developers with annual revenues under $100,000 to use the engine for free. Those with revenues exceeding this but below $200,000 must pay for Unity Plus, which costs $400 per year. Anyone surpassing this figure is required to pay for Unity Pro, Industry, or Enterprise, which costs $2,000, $5,000, or a specific amount of dollars per year depending on their studio’s specific needs.
What Unity has done is announce the elimination of Unity Plus. Consequently, there’s now a leap from Personal to Pro, where the cost increases fivefold for the same service.
But what has caused the most controversy is the fact that starting from January 1, 2024, they want to introduce a usage fee. For every installation of a game that generates over $200,000 in revenue annually, Unity will charge $0.20 for each new installation. The higher the subscription level, the less Unity will charge per download, but this has caused many developers to protest what they consider to be excessive prices.
How this will all end is still up in the air. What’s clear is that with the current prices, Unity is finding it challenging to keep independent studios happy. And with these fees, larger studios have no reason not to seek fairer alternatives.
