Pointed out that Unity's sudden price revision may be ``to guide users to its own advertising platform''

Unity, a game development platform, announced on September 12, 2023 that it would revise its fee system to ``pay a fee according to the number of installs of games developed with Unity'', and has received a huge backlash from game developers. . Game-related news site MobileGamer.biz argues that ``Unity suddenly introduced a fee system that is too strict for developers in order to compete with competing mobile advertising platforms such as AppLovin.''

Unity is offering a Runtime Fee waiver if you switch to LevelPlay as it tries to 'kill AppLovin' - Mobilegamer.biz
https://mobilegamer.biz/unity-is-offering-a-runtime-fee-waiver-if-you-switch-to-levelplay-as-it-tries-to-kill-applovin/

Unity will quietly waive controversial fees if developers switch to its ad monetization service - report | Eurogamer.net
https://www.eurogamer.net/unity-will-quietly-waive-controversial-fees-if-developers-switch-to-its-ad-monetisation-service-report

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You can understand what kind of system Unity's newly introduced 'Unity Runtime Fee' is by reading the article below. Additionally, Unity has been heavily criticized by the game developer community for removing its terms of service and amending its forum description after the announcement.

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

Game developers keep posting angry comments about Unity's suddenly announced ``fee system based on the number of game installations'' - GIGAZINE

In a blog post announcing the Unity Runtime Fee, titled ``Reducing usage fees for Unity services,'' Unity states, ``Eligible customers will receive Unity Gaming Services, Unity LevelPlay mediation for games that support mobile advertising, and more.'' Credits may be available for Unity Runtime Fees based on adoption of Unity services other than Editors.'

According to MobileGamer.biz, Unity has already offered some studios an 80-100% fee waiver if they switch to LevelPlay, Unity's own advertising platform. LevelPlay is a tool developed with Unity for displaying advertisements in games for smartphones, allowing you to try out various types of advertisements, and improve profitability by testing and analyzing advertisements. Become.

Unity agreed to merge with IronSource, which develops a business platform for mobile game applications, in July 2023, but AppLovin said, ``If we abandon the merger with IronSource, Unity will be worth 20 billion dollars (approximately 2.9 trillion yen). ), but was rejected by Unity . For this reason, Unity is in serious conflict with AppLovin, and MobileGamer.biz suggests that the purpose of this Unity Runtime Fee may have been 'to direct users to LevelPlay in order to compete with AppLovin.' doing.

User acquisition consultant Matej Lancaric commented, ``AppLovin is way ahead of LevelPlay in both ad monetization and users, and Unity's approach is going to crush AppLovin.''

Additionally, Lancaric says, ``Unity says, ``If you don't move to LevelPlay, you have to pay a lot of money.'' For small developers, moving to LevelPlay is the only option to save the company. No. The remaining developers are already considering moving from Unity to engines like Godot and Cocos2D.'

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Unity announces review of ``Unity Runtime Fee'' policy that charges a fee for each installation - GIGAZINE