This is a real blow to the video game industry. Unity is the most used game engine in the world by development studios to design titles. But on September 12, the company announced a new pricing policy.
In the space of two days, the news took on crazy proportions. So much so that Unity received death threats. Given the danger, the company was forced to close its American offices in San Francisco (California) and Austin (Texas) on Thursday, September 14 and Friday, September 15, indicates Bloomberg.
Towards bankruptcy of the studio?
Starting January 1, developers will be required to pay an installation tax. So when a person installs a game developed using the engine, Unity charges its creator between 1 and 20 cents. These costs will be activated from a certain threshold depending on the subscription contracted by the studio, but also on the total number of downloads of a video game.
For its part, Unity assures on Twitter (renamed X) that “more than 90% of its clients will not be affected by the change.” But there is already a wave of panic among developers. Many fear that this decision by Unity will lead them directly to bankruptcy.
At the origin of the successful game Kill the needle, the studio has been developing a new project for two years. They’re using Unity for their next title, but the company could turn everything upside down.
Go against the trends
Above all, Unity’s new policy seems disconnected from the current reality of the video game industry. More and more games adopt an economic model based on “freemium”, free access and the sale of in-game elements.
Furthermore, a big trend is to develop viral games, which sell for only a few euros. This is particularly the case of vampire survivorssince then copied by numerous titles.
Finally, the practice of video games is being disrupted today by the adoption of subscriptions by gamers. Microsoft and Sony offer access to a catalog of games by subscribing to Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus Extra (or Premium) respectively. In this specific case, Unity believes it is up to the company offering the package to pay your new tax. This should lead to a massive reduction in the lists of titles offered or an increase in the price of subscriptions.
Source: BFM TV
