Unity, which is in trouble due to price revision, announces revisions such as ``Continuation of free plan'' and ``Games that have already been released are not eligible''
The game engine 'Unity'
Report to the community | Unity Blog
https://blog.unity.com/ja/news/open-letter-on-runtime-fee
FAQ about pricing changes and Unity plans 2023 | Unity
https://unity.com/ja/pricing-updates
Unity is a game engine that can create 3D and 2D games, and because it is compatible with many platforms and has a wide range of assets used for game production such as characters and UI, it is used by many developers, from game production beginners to major companies. has been adopted. Unity was available for free to users with annual revenue of less than $100,000 (approximately 14.8 million yen), and an annual usage fee was charged depending on revenue and development scale, but by September 2023. On April 13th, we announced the introduction of the 'Unity Runtime Fee,' which will add a fee based on the number of game installs.
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
Immediately after the announcement of the Unity Runtime Fee, prominent game developers such as the developers of Slay the Spire and Among Us released statements criticizing Unity, and a number of game developers also announced that they would stop using Unity. . In response to the fierce backlash against the Unity Runtime Fee, Unity announced a review of the Unity Runtime Fee on September 18, 2023. Some of the revised contents were announced on September 23, 2023. The main points of the review are as follows.
◆Unity Personal is not eligible for Unity Runtime Fee
When the Unity Runtime Fee was initially announced, the free plan Unity Personal was also included, but it has been clarified that Unity Personal will not be covered by the Unity Runtime Fee.
◆Games created using existing versions of Unity are not eligible for Unity Runtime Fee.
The Unity Runtime Fee applies to games created using the next major version of Unity scheduled for release in 2024, and does not apply to games created using existing versions of Unity. Please note that the next major version scheduled to be released in 2024 is called 'Unity 2023 LTS' so be careful not to get confused.
In summary, you are eligible for the Unity Runtime Fee only if you meet all of the following conditions:
・Subscribe to Unity Pro or Unity Enterprise
・Produced using the next major release version of Unity (Unity 2023 LTS) to be released in 2024.
・The total revenue of the game in the past 12 months is more than $1 million (approximately 148 million yen), and the game has received more than 1 million initial engagements.
◆Use “first engagement” as an indicator instead of “installation”
When Unity Runtime Fee was first announced, the metric was set to the number of 'installs' of the game. However, when using the number of ``installations'' as an indicator, questions arose, such as ``how to count when a user repeatedly installs multiple times'' and ``does the number of installations of pirated versions also be included?'' . Therefore, Unity states that ``the moment a given end user first successfully and legally acquires, downloads, or participates in a game running on a distribution platform using the Unity Runtime.'' has been defined as 'first engagement' and announced that 'first engagement' will be used as an indicator.
Unity asks that you refer to the English version of the questionnaire for accurate information on 'first engagement.' The English version of the questionnaire can be accessed from the link below.
Changes to pricing and Unity plans 2023 FAQ | Unity
https://unity.com/pricing-updates
◆Payment amount can be selected from “amount based on the number of initial engagements” or “2.5% of total revenue”
If your game is eligible for the Unity Runtime Fee, you will pay either an amount based on the number of initial engagements or 2.5% of gross revenue. In addition, Unity does not independently measure the number of initial engagements or revenue; instead, it is self-reported by developers. Specifically, developers need to calculate the number of initial engagements by referring to 'number of sales on game sales platforms' and report it to Unity if the threshold is exceeded. The company plans to develop an 'easy reporting process' in the future.
◆Unity Personal's revenue limit will be raised
Previously, Unity Personal was a plan limited to users with annual revenue of less than $100,000 (approximately 14.8 million yen), but the upper limit of annual revenue has been raised to $200,000 (approximately 29.7 million yen).
◆Removal of the obligation to use the Unity splash screen in Unity Personal
In Unity Personal, it was necessary to display the Unity logo when starting the game, but this requirement has been lifted.
Detailed information on Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise will be released in the future.
In addition, Mark Whitten, general manager of Unity, said in an interview with Ars Technica, a foreign media outlet, ``We didn't intend to make a lot of money, but we made people think that way.'' ``Unity We hope that by excluding Personal from the Unity Runtime Fee, it will be clear that we do not intend to extract excessive amounts of money from small developers.'
Related Posts:
in Game, Posted by log1o_hf