Unity Cancels Runtime Fees: Big News for Chinese Game Devs

Unity Cancels Runtime Fees: Big News for China’s Game Developers 🇨🇳🎮

A year after launching its highly controversial Runtime Fees policy, Unity officially canceled the plan on September 12. This change is particularly impactful for China, one of the biggest gaming markets worldwide.

💡 What Happened? Unity’s previous policy would have charged developers based on the number of game installs. This sparked global backlash, with indie developers especially upset. While large Chinese studios like Tencent (creators of Honor of Kings) and miHoYo (Genshin Impact) didn’t publicly protest, the policy threatened to impact their bottom line and the wider developer community.

🎮 Why It Matters in China Unity is the most popular game engine in China, powering about 70% of the top 1000 mobile games. Mobile games dominate the Chinese market, and Unity’s original Runtime Fees model had the potential to severely hurt indie and smaller developers, who rely on free-to-play models with high download numbers. The sudden fee could have cut into their revenues and forced them to consider alternative engines.

🛠️ What’s Next? With the cancellation of the Runtime Fees, Unity announced an increase in subscription prices for Pro and Enterprise tiers but extended free access for Personal users, making it more accessible for indie creators. Unity’s new CEO, Matthew Bromberg, stressed that building trust with developers is key to the company’s mission. However, some developers are already exploring alternatives like Unreal and China’s own Cocos engine.

📊 China’s Market Impact The stakes are high for Unity in China, with more than 700 million gamers in the country. Though big developers can handle the price increases, smaller studios might still hesitate. The cancellation is a step toward mending relationships, but it will take time for Unity to rebuild trust.

The Chinese gaming industry is watching closely. Will Unity remain the go-to engine, or will this shift cause a broader move to other platforms? That’s still an open question. And do we really believe that a near-monopoly like Unity suddenly cares more about its customers than its profits? 🤔