Rust creator tells Unity to "get fucked" as developers left seething by new install fee

gamedeveloper.com:

An increasing number of developers are outlining plans to kick Unity to the curb as soon as possible after the engine maker announced plans to introduce a new Runtime Fee in January 2024 that will see creators charged per install after certain thresholds have been met.

In a strongly worded response to the news, Garry's Mod and Rust developer Garry Newman told Unity to "get fucked" and said the news has left him "furious."

Newman said the fee itself wouldn't be a huge issue if you assumed Unity was capable of ironing out all the creases and implementing a flawless system capable of tracking relevant downloads. For them, the real kicker is that developers weren't warned or consulted before Unity decided to shift the goalposts.

"It hurts because we didn't agree to this. We used the engine because you pay up front and then ship your product. We weren't told this was going to happen. We weren't warned. We weren't consulted," explained the Facepunch Studios founder. "We have spent 10 years making Rust on Unity's engine. We've paid them every year. And now they changed the rules."

Newman claimed the move shows that Unity cannot be trusted as a partner, and described the firm as "the worst company to be in charge of the Unity Engine."

"It's our fault. All of our faults. We sleepwalked into it. We had a ton of warnings," they added. "We should have been pressing the eject button when Unity IPO'd in 2020. Every single thing they've done since then has been the exact opposite of what was good for the engine. We had 10 years to make our own engine and never did. I'm sure a lot of game companies are feeling the same today.

"Let's not make the same mistake again, Rust 2 definitely won't be a Unity game."

Newman isn't the first notable