Even though Terraria developer Re-Logic mostly doesn’t use Unity, it’s made a strong statement of condemnation in regards to the engine’s recently announced, controversial install fee policy – and it’s putting its money where its mouth is.
In a statement on X/Twitter today, which you can read in full below, Re-Logic said that the team “has been watching the recent events surrounding Unity with both interest and sadness."
— Terraria? (@Terraria_Logic) September 19, 2023
“The loss of a formerly leading and user-friendly game engine to the darker forces that negatively impact so much of the gaming industry has left us dismayed to put it mildly,” it continued. “While we do not personally use Unity (outside of a few elements on our console/mobile platforms), we feel like we cannot sit idly by as these predatory moves are made against studios everywhere."
Re-Logic went on to say they “unequivocally condemn and reject the recent TOS/fee changes proposed by Unity and the underhanded way they were rolled out,” in a “flippant manner” that disregarded the trust of publishers, studios, and gamers alike.
Adding that they “do not feel a simple public statement is sufficient,” they then promised to donate $100,000 each to game engines Godot and FNA, in addition to $1,000/month moving forward, with the condition that “they remain good people and keep doing all that they can to make these engines powerful and approachable for developers everywhere.”
Unity garnered near industry-wide backlash when it announced the new policy, dubbed the Unity Runtime Fee, last week. Per the policy, which would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, Unity would charge $0.20 per install for any game with more than 200,000 installs. This spawned both confusion and derision among developers and gamers alike, and Unity’s attempts to clarify the policy did little to help.
Over the weekend, however, Unity apologized for the “confusion and angst” the announcement of the policy caused, and promised that it “will be making changes” to it in the coming days. While the engine still hasn’t announced said changes, Bloomberg reported yesterday that it's considering capping fees to 4% of a game's revenue for customers making over $1 million, among other tweaks.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
