Uh oh... Runtime Fees?!? Should i keep working on my game?

So apparently in 2024 i will have to pay 20 cents for each time someone installs my game… I don’t think i will be popular enough to start paying the fees but come on! The update is not even out and everyone is quitting! Should i quit too? Im actually starting to get good at making things in unity so im kinda scared of switching engines. Edit: i no longer plan on quitting, actually i found out the new ceo of unity is that ea ceo who only wanted cash. So basically i still trust unity but not that guy. I don’t want his sticky little hands all over my game but i still want to use unity for my current and future games.

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People are missing what’s so bad about this.
It means, in order to meaningfully track this metric, they need to bundle DRM with their runtime. That means that whenever the application is installed, it’ll send a message over the Internet to Unity to inform them.

I categorically refuse to distribute spyware for my hobby.

To be honest i don’t think you should. I think some things will change too so don’t worry that much. I personaly don’t think any new indie game developer would easily reach 200k installs and 200k revenue per 12 months. Even if someone will reach it then he can just buy the pro version and he will need 1 milion revenue and installs and it seems insanely hard for me. That’s my opinion , if you disaggree do whatever you like.

no man dont quit this is a trend that will soon die and everyone you see switching will come back to unity in a way or another unity offers you a lot of features and is stable with wide range of support so i dont think i will quit and if you really comfortable with unity dont quit

Technically, it is not possible to eliminate malicious installations. Competitors can increase the number of installations of your game indefinitely.
I’m in a group with thousands of indie developers. Everyone wants to migrate to another engine. This is a serious public relations crisis. But the CEO of Unity doesn’t seem to care.

A line was crossed that was previously communicated will never be crossed. For now the licensing fees start once you’re over 200k of revenue, but can you still trust them, that will not be changed in the future?

The sole fact, that their runtime is a separate part of your product, that is licensed by them, and its terms can change retroactively (and as we’ve now seen, will change without consulting their customers) is a huge legal red flag.

In the end it is your decision. If it’s just a hobby for you and will remain like that, I don’t think much will change. If you run a business and plan on monetizing, I would run the numbers again if switching engines or runtime fees would cost you more in the long run.

This is the issue, what happens when its 20k installs and a 5.00 fee per install? Laugh all you want, a promise has been broken that this would NEVER happen.
We are switching to unreal, instantly. Trust once lost is really impossible to return.
Liars gonna lie lie lie lie lie.
They will have to release a legal document releasing all developers in the past from ever having terms changed on them in the future.
Without this legal document my legal team says switch, and that is what we are doing.

I don’t know I think it depends on your situation. If you’re not in deep development of any projects and you’re focused on 3D games, then maybe switching to Unreal is a better option. Godot if you do 2D.

No idea who came up with this strategy at Unity, but the CEO gave the OK. So that indicates what current management is capable of. $200K is quite a lot, but a simple indie can get that (Vampire Survivors). 200k installs is a lot but that includes re-installs by the same person. Not clear how Unity tracks install numbers - would require always online connection to Unity server. How to kill a business 101…

they CAN did that again with more terrible things, if they still not change that: we need a fair EULA, and no install fees or runtime fees or whatever they call.
if that’s CEO issue, GTFO.

EVEN if they ditch this and say opps our bad were not going to do it, its TOO late, it exposes a legal vulnerability every Unity Dev has now, to being subject to the whims of some idiots, that is a position which is untenable as a business, you MUST switch now, even if they backtrack! Thats the issue, they cannot undo this with a PR announcement, its a business vulnerability that Unity Devs have which must be addressed or they must move to another engine, it sucks, I hate it, but its also true.
This is actually far more serious than they realize.