Broken trust, a dark 12 months, but a positive sign: Developers react to Unity axing the Runtime Fee

Unity has cancelled its Runtime Fee, which was announced just a year prior. The announcement sent shockwaves through the games industry, with developers quickly declaring their distaste for the changes and even triggering a boycott of the popular platform. 

With Unity now reverting to its existing seat-based subscription model and attempting to rebuild trust with the industry, we reached out to game industry individuals to hear their thoughts on the end of the Runtime Fee.

Is this the beginning of a better future between developers and Unity? Or is the damage done? Here’s what our Mobile Mavens had to say… 

Honestly, it’s a little depressing. I am glad that they’ve run back the thing entirely, but the damage to the brand was entirely avoidable if executives had listened to their teams on the ground.

Not only was it a massive blow to people’s trust in the engine and Unity’s understanding of development realities affecting their userbase, but their communication also sent a signal that if the model didn’t go through, the continuity of Unity as an engine isn’t guaranteed – honestly, the one thing that developers need from an engine is for it to keep existing.

The new model, which does away with the ignoble runtime fees, seems like what they could’ve introduced a year ago: a price hike.

But that wouldn’t have gotten them the massive Genshin ImpactF2P dollars, and once again – it turns out the short-sighted and single-minded shareholder value chase that seems like an epidemic in games led to exactly the opposite. The “developer feedback” should’ve been gathered before, rather than a year after.

For many developers I talk to, the chapter of Unity is over or closing soon. Since those are long-term decisions, I don’t think this change will do much to rekindle the broken trust. But, for those stuck in the Unity ecosystem, for those who choose to remain with Unity, or for those joining it now – it clearly feels like a step in the right direction on a very long path to rebuilding that trust. 

Susan Cummings

Founder
at Tiny Rebel Games

I think it’s fantastic and a positive sign that Unity’s new leadership has listened to the community’s concerns regarding the runtime fee changes. However, it did take a surprising amount of time for this reversal to happen, and in the interim, considerable damage was done – both in terms of goodwill and in driving interest toward alternative engines like Godot.

Fundamentally, changing game engines is a significant decision that can’t be taken lightly. Moving to Unreal Engine, for example, would require substantial changes to the engineering team, especially considering the differences between C# and C++. So, we didn’t see as much of an exodus as might have been expected.

Unity remains an essential tool for many developers, but goodwill is hard to repair once lost.

To rebuild trust, Unity needs to demonstrate a consistent pattern of making the right decisions and maintaining transparency, especially during such a challenging time in the industry. That’s crucial for developers to regain confidence in the platform and continue investing their time and resources into it.

Henri Viitanen

Software Engineer
at Metaplay

Unite is next week and as they will likely release Unity 6, they want high adaptation numbers and stock to rise. The runtime fee would have kept a lot of people from upgrading their Unity.

John Wright

Vice President, Mobile Publishing
at Kwalee

Unity cancelling the runtime fee is possibly the biggest no sh*t Sherlock moment of the year.

I’m really optimistic about the new leadership and what they’re trying to achieve, rebuilding all those decades of goodwill and developer trust that was lost during this fiasco.

I think the future is much brighter after a dark 12 months for the company and that is good for all of us.

This also shows you the power of the developer community when it stands together, shows you exactly what can be achieved. I hope we can have similar wins in other areas of the industry.

Conor McLaughlin

VP of Revenue and Partnerships
at Aghanim

The reversal is a strategic decision to curry lost favour and to ensure no further bleeding. Unity’s game engine product is arguably the best in the market. All eyes are now on the developers who’ll ultimately decide which way the tides move.

The Runtime Fee was an absolutely catastrophic decision from Unity and I don’t think there was any scenario where they wouldn’t kill it.

The gaming industry, and especially mobile gaming, is currently not in a great place and simply couldn’t handle that fee structure.

The new direction from Unity is better and hopefully the outlook for games companies will improve next year, making it easier for studios to absorb the announced per-seat fee increases.

Nevertheless, this situation made it clear just how much power Unity has and how dangerous it is for an entire industry to be so reliant on a provider.

Teemu Haila

Co-founder and CPO
at Metaplay

In the world of free-to-play and razor-thin UA margins, Unity’s Runtime Fee was simply the wrong pricing model.

To compensate, I predict they will look for opportunities to ramp up income from their add-on services.

Claire Rozain

Co-Founder
at YouthWave Game Africa

As a co-founder of Youthwave Games, I see this as a great opportunity for emerging developers like us to finally have equal chances with studios that benefited from the old model five years ago and scaled.

It’s exciting to have the same chances to succeed that larger corporations had five years ago, and we’re hopeful this will encourage more creativity and innovation from smaller teams.

Dmitry Yaminsky

CEO
at Azur Games

This is the right decision for everyone. I’ll just remind you that the Runtime Fee could have completely changed the industry.

A year ago, we were among thousands who signed the open letter to Unity. Game development is unlike any other industry – we’ve always openly shared our development experiences, organised collaborative events, taught and learned from each other, and we want this to remain a collaborative and supportive environment for everyone.

Let’s see what happens, but I’m glad we’re finally hearing each other again. In the end, this will benefit everyone, thanks to the industry’s key strength – its ability and eagerness to work as a team.

A year ago, the entire industry was shocked by the decision to introduce the runtime fee. Sure, for some, it would have been a minor expense due to their business model, and those companies took the news calmly.

But for a huge part of the market, it was a massive blow that put the survival of entire businesses in question. It seemed like someone had forgotten that not all games are paid.

At the time, publishers, studios, and indie developers united to openly express their stance, and Unity delayed the introduction of the runtime fee. This gave everyone time to prepare, but more importantly, it gave Unity time to reconsider.

Today, a year later, the fee has been cancelled for good. I really appreciate Unity for making this pivot and listening to its customers.

In the end, they truly made the right call. This situation highlights the importance of staying connected with your community and talking openly with other industry players about big changes. That’s probably the most important takeaway.

Introducing the Runtime Fee without consulting the industry was one of the loudest announcements last year. But what I love about game dev is the level of communication and support between companies.

Both big studios and indie developers came together, not just to voice their concerns, but to actually influence a critical shift in Unity’s policy. The Runtime Fee could have seriously impacted thousands of people’s work, especially since the free-to-play model wasn’t taken into account the way the market operates today.

The decision to raise prices and cancel the Runtime Fee is a logical next step, reflecting the ongoing dialogue between the industry and Unity, who have always been partners. It’s also a smart move toward building long-term, transparent relationships. Hopefully, moving forward, there will be more upfront communication before making such critical decisions.

Additional reporting by Craig Chapple.