Unity wants to rebuild trust, but one major Runtime Fee claim doesn't add up

gamedeveloper.com:

Last week, Unity rolled out a new look version of its controversial Runtime Fee in the wake of a seismic backlash from developers who felt the original policy represented an egregious act of betrayal for a myriad of reasons.

While plenty of fury was aimed at how the fee might impact developers' finances, some of that anger stemmed from Unity's inability to effectively communicate its new policy and provide clear answers to pertinent questions.

The dust is now supposedly settled, but here's one more thing: why doesn't Unity's explanation for its shifting answers about the Runtime Fee in relation to subscription services hold up to scrutiny?

One of the most frequently asked questions from developers concerned who would be on the hook for Runtime Fees incurred by titles on services like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus.

Initially, Unity indicated that developers would be responsible for those fees. That set off alarm bells, with some developers suggesting that finding success on Game Pass and similar services under the terms of the original policy might actually harm their business.

To quell those fears, Unity Create president Marc Whitten told Axios that distributors like Xbox and Sony, and not developers themselves, would pay fees incurred from subscription services.

At that stage, it was unclear if Microsoft and Sony had actually told Unity they'd be happy to foot the bill. Game Developer has since reached out to all of those companies in a bid to clarify what happened, but has yet to hear back.

Curiously, when Game Developer spoke to Whitten to discuss the reworked Runtime Fee following its reveal, the Unity Create president said that he actually "misspoke" during that interview with Axios.

"I misspoke when I said that. That