Has Unity repaired the damage done by its Runtime Fee plans?

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At the very end of last week, Unity finally revealed its revised plans for the controversial Runtime Fee, which originally intended to charge developers every time their games are installed past certain thresholds.

You can find the full details here, but the key points are that the fee no longer applies to Unity Personal users, while Unity Pro and Enterprise developers have the option to avoid the charge in exchange for a 2.5% revenue share based on self-reported revenues.

Unity also made changes to the Personal plan, removing the need for the Made With Unity splash screen in games and increasing the revenue cap from $100,000 per year to $200,000, after which developers are upgraded to a higher tier.

On the face of it, this seems to remove some issues so many developers were up in arms about over the past two weeks. But Will Lewis, co-founder and director of Garden Story developer Rose City Games, says the updated plans "only offer the shortest term relief."

"They indirectly address developers' primary concerns surrounding trust, which leads to extremely important matters like the sustainability and viability of game studios that use the tool," he tells GamesIndustry.biz. "Unity's initial plan shows that it is out of touch with the games industry, and dialing back without making a real commitment to 'what they've learned' makes it difficult for people to decide whether Unity is a healthy business consideration in an already volatile industry."

Rose City Games was one of many studios that spoke out against the decision via social media, with its statement on X saying the company is considering moving to another engine. For now, with two