Devs on Unity Runtime Fee: "The trust is gone forever"

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It's been almost a full week since Unity announced its controversial Runtime Fee, and the developer backlash continues.

Studios around the world have expressed concerns that the new fee – charging them every time their game is installed after January 1, 2024, providing they meet certain thresholds – threatens to jeopardise the health, or even existence, of their business. And despite subsequent statements from Unity, it's still not entirely apparent how badly these businesses will be affected.

"The most ridiculous part of this fiasco is that the full effects of Unity's decision on the business aren't even clear," says Ustwo Games chief creative officer Danny Gray. "We're left astounded that an operation of that size can move forward with such ill-thought-out plans and are now scrambling to make amendments."

The Monument Valley studio has been predominantly making games for subscription services in recent years, including Apple Arcade and Netflix. At first, it was assumed the developer would have to pay install fees on games for subscription platforms, but Unity has since claimed it will charge the distributor instead – a charge Gray is highly doubtful Apple or Netflix will pay.

"Even if they backtrack this time, who's to say they won't do something like this again in the future?"

"Worse than that, those platforms perhaps won't be signing any Unity-based games if [Unity insists], resulting in developers turning away from the engine altogether," he says. "If you want an example of how crazy this is, anecdotally some developers who've been paid already for their subscription titles are now hoping nobody plays their game. It's literally and