Unity clarifies new changes after modifying outrageous pricing policy, leaving developers on the fence

Unity has been in damage control mode over the past few days after facing backlash for a new pricing policy that had game developers fuming. The latest apology letter from the company aimed to clarify things. While some game creators are still looking to jump ship from the popular game engine to other solutions, it is a more reasonable deal for many.

However, not everyone is convinced yet, especially since many aspects of the new ruleset are still vague. Perhaps this is a step forward in making amends, even if the damage has already been done.

---

New Unity pricing policy changes offer reasonable changes but developers argue further uncertainly

To summarize, here are the new changes for those who intend to use the engine:

• The pay-per-install fee remains for Unity Pro and Enterprise versions and will only be applicable for Unity 2023.x, and onwards. However, developers can instead opt to hand over 2.5% of revenue as an alternate option. Numbers from both avenues will be self-reported, and users will be charged the lesser amount of either payment option.
• Only games with one million USD in revenue over the course of the past 12 months will be subject to the fee.
• No charge for Unity Personal unless the developer reaches $200K in revenue, after which they will be prompted to upgrade to the Pro license.
• Personal users will not be forced to use the 'Made with Unity' splash screen either.
• Users will only comply with the TOS (Terms Of Service) that is offered by the engine build they are using.

Overall, the changes offer developers much more leeway than before, and many feel this is the first right move Unity has made since the fiasco began, even though they do not agree with it completely.

However, others feel nothing the company does will be enough to earn back lost trust. The bridges have already been burned, and there is no coming back for either the company or their users.

To make matters worse, the impact of many changes and additions remains unclear. This has further amped the distrust that developers feel towards the company, especially since they did not completely remove the per-install fee.

At the end of the day, it is a bit of an improvement, but things still look bleak. The uncertain variables that may change or affect studios in the future are what continue to keep teams away from returning to the engine. This is on top of the lack of clarity and breached trust.

So what's next for the gaming industry? Most seem to be jumping ship entirely, either moving on to other alternatives or even in-house solutions. The former seems to be the popular option, as Unreal Engine has seen an uptick in users since this mess began. Community-driven engines like Godot have also begun to pick up traction, which can only mean good things for the industry as a whole.

The group of developers picking custom engines is also interesting. With Genshin Impact developer miHoYo pursuing this line of action, it will certainly be very expensive and challenging, especially since developers have been reliant on third-party software for so long.

Unfortunately, since the most popular game software company has shooed away its users, it's not like game studios whose livelihoods revolve around this specific tech have any other choice.