Unity Installation Fee Controversy

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Overview

Unity Installation Fee Controversy refers to a controversy surrounding video game engine developer Unity Technologies imposing a per-installation fee on games based on its proprietary engine Unity, effective starting January 2024. The change was followed by widespread backlash from video game developers who developed or are developing their games on Unity, as well as generating controversy among gamers and spawning memes about the contentious move in September 2023.

Background

On September 12th, 2023, Unity Technologies,^[1]^[2] a software development company best known for its cross-platform engine of the same name, announced that it was introducing a change to its business model, updating its subscription plans and adding a Unity Runtime Fee, meaning that the company plans to charge video game developers and publishers up to $0.20 per an instance of a game based on Unity Engine being installed (announcement X post and pricing table shown below, left and right).

The change, effective on January 1st, 2024, applies to Unity Engine-based games that exceeded both the install threshold of 200,000 copies (1 million copies for Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise users) and a revenue threshold of $200,000 ($1 million for Unity Pro and Enterprise users).

On September 12th, game development news website Game Developer^[3] reported on the pricing policy change, with the tweet garnering over 3,100 retweets and quote tweets and 2,500 likes on X^[4] in one day.

Developments

Later on September 12th, 2023, journalist Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo)^[5] reported that the company provided clarifications regarding its new fees, writing that reinstallation of a game will indeed result in two charges and that charity games and bundles are exempt from the fees (shown below, left). Later, Totilo provided another update,^[11] reporting that Unity "regrouped" and was now saying it would only charge for the initial installation and that Game Pass installations would not count toward the threshold (shown below, right).

Online Reactions

Starting on September 12th, 2023, the introduction of the fee became a subject of viral debates on social media, primarily on X where game developers and publishers criticized the change. For example, on September 12th, video game developer Rami Ismail (@tha_rami) wrote instead of review-bombing unhappy fanbases can now resort to "mass install-campaigns." The tweet received over 1,100 retweets and 12,500 likes on X^[6] in one day (shown below, left).

Later that day, streamer @KrisWolfeheart^[7] posted a viral greentext about piracy, commenting, "Unity is making this real." The post received over 7,300 reposts and 59,600 likes in one day (shown below, center). The developer of the viral indie game Crab Game (@DaniDevYT)^[8] posted a screenshot in which he calculated the amount of money he would owe Unity if his games got all of their existing installations after the change came into effect. The post (shown below, right) received over 2,600 retweets and 38,600 likes in one day.

Some users wrote that Unity was likely to get sued by major publishers over the introduced change, as studios such as Blizzard, Nintendo and HoYoverse (developers of Genshin Impact) used the engine in their games. Video game developer and writer Xalavier Nelson Jr. wrote^[10] that he was aware of a group of developers planning to file a class-action lawsuit against Unity. The posts (shown below, left) received over 1,400 reposts and 20,100 likes in one day. Video game developer David Szymanski^[12] made a post about major publishers potentially suing Unity which received over 670 retweets and 11,900 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Insider Trading Rumors

On September 12th, 2023, X^[13] user @Jakob_Wahlberg shared an article about Unity Software Inc's CEO John Riccitiello selling 2,000 shares of the company six days before the company announced the new fee. Also that day, X user @ItsLaneLIVE^[14] posted a list of recent stock sales by Unity insiders, including co-founder David Helgason selling 12,500 shares worth over $9 million six days before the announcement.