It was revealed that the company's executives had sold their shares one after another before announcing Unity's ``new system that charges developers fees according to the number of installations''



Unity, a game engine developed by Unity Technologies, has announced a new pricing structure that charges additional fees based on the number of installs for games developed using Unity. It has been revealed that several executives, including the CEO of Unity Technologies, sold their shares just before the announcement of this new pricing system, which has attracted criticism from many users.

Unity Bosses Sold Stocks Ahead Of Scummy Dev Fees Announcement
https://kotaku.com/unity-developer-fee-installs-john-riccitiello-sold-stoc-1850834439



On September 12, 2023, the game engine Unity announced a new pricing system called ` ` Unity Runtime Fee '' that will ``charge developers a fee based on the number of installs for games developed using Unity.'' did. This Unity Runtime Fee is scheduled to be introduced from January 1, 2024.

Unity introduced a pricing system that ``fees are generated every time a game is installed'' and game developers were furious, and ``Unity Plus'', which costs about 50,000 yen per year, also stopped accepting new applications - GIGAZINE



Unity is a game engine that is used not only for games but also for the production of apps, videos, AR and VR content, and usage fees vary depending on the revenue generated from the content created and the functions used. As a result, many small developers used Unity for free.

The Unity Runtime Fee has a new pricing structure in which fees are charged based on the revenue of the work in the past 12 months and the cumulative number of installations, and users need to pay the Unity Runtime Fee separately from the plan fee.

After the announcement, a game developer said, ``Even if you develop a game, get 3 million installs, and sell $200,000 in in-game purchases, Unity will charge you $560,000 for every 2.8 million installs.In other words, Many people have complained about the Unity Runtime Fee, such as, 'We're in the red by $360,000.'




Unity Runtime Fee has received a lot of criticism from game developers, and Unity Technologies' stock price has fallen after the announcement. Meanwhile, it was revealed that Unity Technologies CEO John Riccitiello had sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock on September 6, just before the Unity Runtime Fee was announced. According to reports, CEO Riccitiello has sold a total of 50,610 shares of Unity Technologies since the beginning of 2023.

It has become clear that CEO Riccitiello was not the only executive who sold shares in Unity Technologies before the Unity Runtime Fee was announced, but multiple executives sold significant shares. Tomer Bergeev, the company's head of growth, sold 37,500 shares on September 1st for approximately $1,406,250 (approximately 207 million yen). Director Shlomo Dovrat sold 68,454 shares on August 30th for approximately $2,576,608 (approximately 380 million yen).

In addition, some game developers have announced their intention to stop using Unity because the Unity Runtime Fee has an ambiguous fee structure that ``charges a fee for each certain number of installations.'' Massive Monster, the developer of Cult of the Lamb, has announced his intention to stop selling the game on January 1, 2024, when the Unity Runtime Fee goes into effect.




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in Software,   Game, Posted by logu_ii