Unity insiders suggest controversial Runtime Fee was ‘rushed out’

Ah, Unity. Truly a textbook case of how some companies are so far removed from reality, that they make Elon Musk look relatable. The fiasco surrounding the borderline offensive Runtime Fee not only pissed off developers, but apparently even staff members didn’t approve of it.

According to a report from Mobilegamer.biz (via Eurogamer), sources at Unity itself say that there was “resistance to the Runtime Fee idea,” but concerns were said to have been ignored. It goes on to say that some people at the company weren’t even aware of the new pricing system.

On top of that, insiders also claim that the controversial policy was “rushed out” and was “driven by Unity and IronSource’s intense battle with Applovin over the mediation business.” It’s even been claimed that one mobile game publisher told former CEO John Riccitiello, “F**k you, we’re not paying.”

Unity has been rather quiet lately

For those who aren’t aware, it was revealed not long ago that Unity would be introducing a new pricing structure. In a nutshell: it would require developers who use the company’s engine to create games would need to pay a fee per user installation.

As you can imagine, the backlash was quite severe. Many indie developers took immense exception to having to pay money every time someone installed their game. At the original point of the policy being announced, there was no indication of how Unity would handle illegal downloads and installations. At the time, the fee would make studios pay for both new installs and re-installs.

Since then, the Runtime Fee has been dialed back a bit, but is still going ahead. Riccitiello has also left Unity, so the future is uncertain about what will happen going forward. Many developers have since jumped ship to alternative engines, but the insider knowledge suggests that even people working at Unity were not happy with the upcoming fees.