Unity, that game engine we all love, has gone and stirred the hornet's nest with their new pricing model featuring something they call a "Runtime Fee."
A fee for every game installed on all the platforms they support. The whole game dev community is up in arms about it, and rightly so! I mean, they're not charging per sale,. Nope, they're charging every time someone downloads and installs your game.
It's causing quite the ruckus, with accusations flying around about fairness and legality. Unity's response so far hasn't quite quelled the storm, and big names like Mega Crit and Massive Monster are calling it harmful to indie developers and a trust breach. So, yeah, it's safe to say Unity's got some apologizing and explaining to do.
Unity's new policy isn't just about the fees. The fear of "install bombing" is also lurking around, where users might download and uninstall a game repeatedly to harm developers financially. That's some serious shady business. Plus, Unity's method of tracking pirated games is stirring the pot, too. Some developers are even thinking of jumping ship to engines like Godot or Epic's Unreal Engine, which have more developer-friendly pricing structures.
As we know, switching engines can be a real hassle, potentially causing delays in game releases. While Unity's got a lot of explaining and apologizing to do, it's a real headache for indie devs caught in the crossfire.
