Unity charts a new path forward without the “catastrophic” Runtime Fee

Unity’s Runtime Fee is officially dead in the water. Exactly one year after its infamous announcement, new CEO Matt Bromberg has made his stamp on the firm – to end the madness and, to coin a sporting term, go back to basics.

For zero gains, all it cost was an enormous industry backlash, a boycott of its ads business, its former CEO John Riccitiello’s job, a loss of trust, and the start of a wave of layoffs and company-wide restructuring.

Despite previously rowing back some of the changes, anger and confusion over the new terms remained.

A return to ‘democratisation’

Now Unity is reverting to its core business philosophy of “democratisation”, one of the reasons it caught fire (in a good way – not like the Runtime Fee fire) with the development community in the first place. That and the investment required to establish its dominance as a market leader.

The big U-turn isn’t free, however. Pro users will see their subscription price increase by 8% to $2,200 annually per seat, while Enterprise customers will see a 25% increase. The changes will be effective as of January 1st, 2025.

It may not stop the bleeding, but Unity has finally sought medical assistance to – it hopes – avoid a critical condition. Though its wounds may never fully heal.

It’s interesting that Bromberg’s message starts with “after deep consultation with our community, customers, and partners”, given the apparent lack of that prior to the original announcement. A source with knowledge of the matter told PocketGamer.biz that Unity did in fact consult a small number of companies about the Runtime Fee prior to its announcement. All but one reported back negatively. It later went ahead anyway.

Referring to democratisation – the heart of Unity, which may be a marketing messaging, but it’s a powerful one – Bromberg said the company “can’t pursue that mission in conflict with our customers”. A final admittance from the new leadership that, in its quest to make money, it took the wrong path.

“No sh*t Sherlock”

The Runtime Fee has seemingly already cost Unity customers. Prior to the announcement, Second Dinner, developer of the Unity-powered Marvel Snap, announced a strategic partnership with W4 Games in August and said its largest game yet would be built with open-source engine Godot.

So what does the industry think now? Kwalee VP of mobile games John Wright said 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,” he commented.

“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.”

Rebuilding trust

Tiny Rebel Games CEO Susan Cummings told PocketGamer.biz the news was “fantastic and a positive sign that the new leadership at Unity has listened to the community’s concerns regarding the Runtime Fee changes”.

She added, however, it took a surprising amount of time to reverse the fee, with “considerable damage” already done.

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

“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.”

ZBD chief strategy officer Ben Cousens called the Runtime Fee “an absolutely catastrophic decision from Unity” and only foresaw one outcome – that Unity would kill it.

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

“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.”

For now, Unity has got some goodwill back. But will it be enough?

Have any comments about Unity’s decision? Email head of content Craig Chapple at craig.chapple@steelmedianetwork.com and deputy editor Paige Cook at paige.cook@steelmedianetwork.com.