Unity Has Apologized For Its Install Fee Policy and Says It 'Will Be Making Changes' to It

ign.com:

Unity has apologized for the "confusion and angst the runtime fee policy" it announced last week has caused and has revealed it will be "making changes" to it.

Unity took to Twitter/X to share the news, saying it has been talking to a number of people inside and outside the company and is planning on changing course to the controversial policy. While it didn't share any details on what those changes may be, it did promise another update will arrive in "a couple of days."

We have heard you. We apologize for the confusion and angst the runtime fee policy we announced on Tuesday caused. We are listening, talking to our team members, community, customers, and partners, and will be making changes to the policy. We will share an update in a couple of…

"We have heard you," Unity wrote. "We apologize for the confusion and angst the runtime fee policy we announced on Tuesday caused. We are listening, talking to our team members, community, customers, and partners, and will be making changes to the policy. We will share an update in a couple of days. Thank you for your honest and critical feedback."

The Unity Runtime Fee Policy is set to go into effect on January 1, 2024, and would charge $0.20 per install for any game with more than 200,000 installs. This obviously raised a lot of eyebrows as the term install in today's day and age is a bit hard to pin down. For example, will devs get charged for multiple installs from those who install, uninstall, and re-install their games? Even though there is no charge to the consumer after the monthly fee, do Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Plus installs count?

Unity tried to clarify the policy, saying it will only count "net new installs" on any devices starting January 1 and devs would not be