unity – Tech News

Unity U-turns on controversial runtime fee and begs forgiveness

image via techcrunch.com

Unity has done a 180 on a controversial new pricing scheme that users of its cross-platform game engine almost unanimously disparaged. A new pricing policy is still incoming, but it’s far less fraught for independent developers, many of whom threatened to leave the engine and platform behind rather than pay. Under the revised terms, there is no runtime fee whatever for any game developed with a current version of Unity, only for those developers who adopt the latest version in 2024. The free Unity Personal will stay free, and the revenue ceiling above which users must upgrade to the next tier has been raised to $200,000. And above $1 million, users will be able to choose between a per-user fee or a 2.5% revenue share, whichever is lesser.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/22/unity-u-turns-on-controversial-runtime-fee-and-begs-forgiveness/

Unity engine: Among Us and Slay the Spire makers join criticism

Earlier this week the company said it wanted to charge its customers a fee every time someone installed a game based on the engine. It said the charge would only kick in once a game hit a certain number of downloads, but could be as much as $0.20 (£0.16 GBP) at the top level. This generated a quick, angry response across the games industry.
https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-66810296

Unity manager publicly states company is ‘out of touch’, is fired within three hours

"A Unity exec just shared that they rent a secondary [apartment] in [San Francisco] to make it easier to be in the office- maybe we should all just do this to make it easier to RTO [return to office]" Due tweeted on May 8. "This company has lost it. Completely out of touch."
https://www.pcgamer.com/unity-manager-publicly-states-company-is-out-of-touch-is-fired-within-three-hours/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&fbclid=IwAR04bhohcRsEHoQEPAq6UI7I6Do797urhj_9kPnBA-dNb0MHimgUYb0LfA0

Unity Software to lay off 600 employees, or 8% of its workforce

Unity Software announced plans to cut about 600 jobs, or 8% of its workforce, according to a company filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The video game software developer said it will restructure “specific teams” and that the layoffs will help the company position itself for “long-term and profitable growth.” A company spokesperson declined to provide further details.
https://cnb.cx/3nxA7MJ%20

Unity and IronSource’s $4.4B merger is now complete

Image Credits: Unity

It’s worth noting that in the intervening weeks since Unity and ironSource first announced their plans, AppLovin entered the conversation in a big way when it tabled a $20 billion offer for Unity, on the condition that Unity ended plans to merge with AppLovin’s rival, ironSource. After consideration, Unity ultimately rejected that offer, with its board noting that AppLovin’s offer wasn’t a “superior proposal.”
https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/07/unity-and-ironsources-4-4b-merger-is-now-complete/