Game devs say Unity's new install fee is a threat to everyone, including gamers, and there's no going back: "I don't want to sell my house because my game was too popular"
Games are generally made using the tools and resources of foundational software called engines, and Unity is one of the most-used and therefore most important engines in the entire games industry. So it was scorched-earth news for the leadership at Unity to abruptly announce a new fee which would charge developers every time someone installs a game that was made with Unity – including future and retroactive installs – beginning in 2024.
Unity's promised pricing thresholds that would ostensibly shield many developers from the fee, and in the fallout of the news it's rushed out vague assurances about what counts as an install. But the response from the game developers who've had their livelihood threatened by this change has been withering and unwavering: this is catastrophically bad for everyone, and even if Unity completely walks it back right now, it will have lasting damage on the industry.
GamesRadar+ spoke to 10 game developers, many of whom would be directly impacted by the new Unity fee. The fee presents multiple problems that Unity has yet to prove it can solve, but while responses varied in focus, every dev agreed that this policy will only hurt people who make games, and by extension, people who want to play good games.
It ultimately leads to worse experiences for the users and the developers overall.
"As a company that develops a platform that many, many other developers rely on, I think this change, along with its announcement, has been handled very irresponsibly," says Hoversport Studios co-owner Maxwell Kunze. "Not only do I see this change in policy as being pretty bad for the developers, I think the way they wish to enact it is a betrayal of trust. Many devs, including myself, would not have chosen to
Read more on gamesradar.com
