Unity has changed its pricing model, and game developers are pissed off

The new model makes no sense whatsoever.

If I install a game I bought on both my desktop and steamdeck, the devs have to pay unity twice. If I uninstall it and re-install it, they have to pay it thrice. Four times if I ever use my laptop to play.

If I share the game with my dad and sister via steam family share, the devs have to pay yet another two times.

But I only paid for the game once.

It's complete insanity. Do they have to pay again for every update, does that count as a new install? What about games on subscription services?

pirate game 6 million times company loses $60 million

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Popular video game engine Unity is making big changes to its pricing structure that’s causing confusion and anger among developers.

“We are introducing a Unity Runtime Fee that is based upon each time a qualifying game is downloaded by an end user,” the company shared on its blog.

Also we believe that an initial install-based fee allows creators to keep the ongoing financial gains from player engagement, unlike a revenue share.”

Additionally, there’s the concern that malicious actors could use this information to run up charges by continuously downloading and redownloading games as a form of protest or griefing.

All those fears were seemingly confirmed when Stephen Totilo of Axios tweeted that Unity stated it would indeed charge a developer each time a game was redownloaded or downloaded to different devices.

An additional tweet from Totilo stated that Unity would implement fraud detection tools and allow developers to report potential cases of abuse.

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