Terraria developer Re-Logic responds to Unity Runtime Fee by donating $200,000 to open-source engines
Re-Logic, the independent game developer and publisher behind the 2D sandbox title Terrariumscondemned the Recently Announced Unity Runtime Feesand announced that it was donating a substantial amount of money to two different open source game engines, to help them remain “powerful and accessible to developers around the world.”
In a statement posted to Twitter, Re-Logic wrote: “The Re-Logic team has observed the recent events surrounding Unity with both interest and sadness. The loss of a once leading and user-friendly gaming engine to dark forces that has negatively impacted much of the gaming industry has left us dismayed, to say the least.
The studio explained that while it does not use Unity outside of certain elements on mobile and console platforms, it believes that it “cannot stand idly by while these predatory measures are taken against studios around the world.
“We unequivocally condemn and reject Unity’s recent proposed changes to terms of service and fees and the underhanded manner in which they have been deployed,” Re-Logic said. “The casual way in which years of trust cultivated by Unity have been tossed aside for yet another way to squeeze publishers, studios, and players is the saddest part. That this completely unnecessary decision pushes things into the category tragedies – a cautionary tale that the industry will not soon forget.”
Continuing, the studio confirmed that it is donating $100,000 to FNA and Godot, and will continue to sponsor them with monthly donations of $1,000. Explaining the decision, he wrote: “All we ask in return is that they remain good people and continue to do everything they can to make these engines powerful and accessible to developers around the world.”
In case you missed it, Unity’s runtime fee is set to go into effect on January 1, 2024 – it will charge developers a monthly fee based on the number of installs of their games, assuming they exceed a specified threshold. For developers using Unity Personal or Unity Plus, for example, the threshold (per game) is 200,000 lifetime installs and a total of $200,000 in revenue.
Unity’s announcement caused huge backlash, with hundreds of developers join a protest against the changes. While Unity recently apologized for the “confusion and anxiety”, it is unclear whether he plans to readjust or reverse his policy. In Re-Logic’s statement, however, the studio wrote that even if Unity decided to turn around, “the destruction of trust is not so easy to repair.”
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