In something that many developers and players have classified as a shot in their own foot, Unity Technologies announced that starting January 1, 2024, it will implement a fee system based on the number of games installed. And the measure has begun to generate not only criticism from many developers, but also the clear intention to stop using the Unity engine or even delist their creator games in it.
Decisions that have even been made and communicated by Chilean studios, such as Abstract Digital, co-creators of the game Tormented Souls, who on their Twitter/X account have indicated that this new fee puts them, and countless other studios, “in a position where we may not be able to justify using Unity for our future projects,” leaving aside all the experience they have gained in the time they have used the engine.
You can read: UNITY clarifies to DEVs when they will not pay for reinstallations of their games with its engine on different devices
The news has also generated a stir in many media such as Game Developer, where they are already talking about “the death of Unity”, due to this negative reaction from the developer community. Xalavier Nelson Jr., director of indie studio Strange Scaffold, summarizes his opinion on what this Unity movement represents in statements to Kotaku, saying: “This is the danger of modern games and game development cycles becoming exponentially more complicated, lengthy and prone to immense dependency; than when a decision like this is announced, and you are already three years into a five-year journey.”
“You have little or no options. “You are stuck with a partner who may be actively working against your interests and whom you can no longer trust.”
Something also shared by Mike Blackney, co-developer of Static Dead Drive, who comment: “You make a game. That game is freemium. The game manages to make $200,000 in in-app purchases after being installed almost 3 million times. Now we owe Unity 20 cents per installation, which makes $560,000… 360,000 more than that we have won.”
To finish and as we mentioned, some studies have gone further than just stopping using Unity, which has been reported by several Twitter/X userssharing for example a publication by Massive Monster, creators of Cult of the Lamb, who have announced that they will stop using Unity if this decision persists, which could also result in significant delays in their games.
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