The Unity Runtime Fee was a pricing model that Unity described as intended to apply to games generating significant revenue based on use of the Unity Runtime, that is, the part of the Unity Software intended for distribution inside a customer’s game or application.[3] Unity cancelled it for games customers, effective immediately, on 12 September 2024, and states that no new or existing Unity games have been or will be subject to it.[1][3] The episode is a licensing record rather than only a news item: it explains why Unity’s terms are published as dated versions, why a customer can elect to stay on an older version, and which documents an organization should keep to show which terms it accepted.
Editions
The Runtime Fee was never a separate edition. It was a charge layered on top of the Unity Personal, Pro, Enterprise and Industry plans, and the cancellation returned games customers to a seat-based subscription model, including those who adopted Unity 6.[1] The plans themselves are described in Unity Editor plans and tier eligibility. Three groups of customers were treated differently:
- Games customers were told the Runtime Fee was cancelled and that Unity would revert to its seat-based subscription model.[1]
- Non-gaming Industry customers were stated to be not impacted by the cancellation.[1]
- Customers on older Editor versions remained entitled to the terms they had accepted, subject to the rules below.[3]
Metrics
The Runtime Fee was tied to the distribution of the Runtime rather than to the seat. Unity’s November 2023 terms referred to it as detailed on Unity’s pricing-updates page and stated that it did not apply to Projects created with the prior released versions (2022 LTS, 2021 LTS, 2020 LTS and earlier) unless a qualifying Project, a game meeting the Runtime Fee threshold criteria, was upgraded to the next major release of 2024.[5] The same revision recorded support dates for Unity 2022 LTS of at least 30 May 2025 for Pro customers and 30 May 2026 for Enterprise customers.[5] The thresholds that determined the revenue eligibility of the tiers at that date were also different: the November 2023 terms set the Personal threshold at USD 100,000 and the Unity Plus threshold at USD 200,000, with no threshold for Pro other than for Industry Customers at USD 1,000,000.[5]
Because no fee was ever implemented, the Runtime Fee has no counting metric in a current licence position. Unity’s FAQ states that the cancellation does not affect any Unity games, since the fee was not implemented, and that customers who had budgeted for it no longer have to account for those costs, though they may need to account for Pro and Enterprise pricing changes effective 1 January 2025.[3]
Counting / floors
What replaced the Runtime Fee
The Editor Software Terms now state that Unity grants the right to distribute the Unity Runtime without royalty, revenue share or runtime fee for any Projects created with Unity 6 or any earlier version, provided that the customer pays the applicable subscription or seat fees and continues to comply with current Tier Eligibility.[9] Unity also stated in its cancellation notice what would change instead:
- Unity Personal would remain free, with the revenue and funding ceiling doubling from USD 100,000 to USD 200,000, and the splash screen becoming optional with Unity 6.[1]
- Unity Pro would increase by 8% to USD 2,200 per seat per year from 1 January 2025 and be required for customers with more than USD 200,000 of annual revenue and funding.[1]
- Unity Enterprise would increase by 25% from 1 January 2025 and be required above USD 25 million, with a minimum subscription requirement that may apply.[1]
- Unity would revert to considering price increases only on an annual basis.[1]
Subsequent annual adjustments followed: Unity Pro and Enterprise saw a 5% increase from 12 January 2026, taking effect at the next renewal on or after that date.[3]
Industry Customers
For Industry Customers the position is different. Section 2.2.1 of the Editor Software Terms provides that an Industry Customer may distribute the Unity Runtime as an integrated part of its Projects subject to payment of applicable fees and Unity’s express authorization.[9] Unity’s Industry FAQ states that commercial distribution of the runtime by Industry Customers requires explicit authorization and a fee, called a Distribution License, that is generally equivalent to 4.0% of the revenue generated by the software product that incorporates the runtime.[10] The Industry Terms updated on 3 August 2026 add a programme for internal deployment: Industry Customers may deploy or distribute Projects incorporating the Unity Runtime to non-Authorized Users, including employees, contractors and personnel of direct affiliates, subject to applicable fees and Unity’s express authorization, and without such a grant may not do so.[11] Organizations that distribute Unity-based applications to staff who do not hold seats should treat that clause as a separate licensing event.
Virtualization & partitioning
There is no virtualization dimension to the Runtime Fee or its replacement. The Runtime is licensed as embedded in a Project and distributed to third parties to whom the customer licenses or sells the Project, under an agreement no less protective of Unity and its licensors than the Unity agreement.[9] That downstream-agreement requirement, rather than a count of installs, is the compliance control on the distribution side.
Cloud / BYOL
The Runtime Fee does not apply to Unity’s cloud services, which are governed by the Cloud Additional Terms; see Unity Industry, Cloud and add-on licensing. Unity’s distribution right covers the Runtime embedded in a Project and does not permit the customer to make the Editor available as a hosted service.[9]
Programs
Electing prior terms
When Unity updates the Editor Software Terms, a customer that complies with Tier Eligibility may choose to continue using its current version of the Unity Software under the previously accepted terms; moving to a later named version brings the most current terms, while an update within a named version, for example Unity 6 to Unity 6.1, does not.[7] The customer is responsible for maintaining complete records establishing its entitlement to the prior terms.[7] Unity’s FAQ adds three limits: Unity 6 cannot be used with previous terms and requires acceptance of the 10 October 2024 terms; price changes still apply to customers on prior terms at purchase or renewal; and the terms apply to all Editor users on all plans and versions.[3] Unity also states that for Prior Released Versions it will not impose additional fees, a Runtime Fee or a revenue share beyond the subscription costs set out in the prior terms.[5]
Version history of the Editor Software Terms
Unity’s repository lists revisions of the Editor Software Terms dated 28 June 2016, 4 November 2016, 21 February 2018, 5 December 2018, 16 January 2019, 10 March 2022, 13 October 2022, 3 April 2023, 6 November 2023, 10 October 2024, 4 December 2024, 13 August 2025 and 30 June 2026.[4] The revisions most relevant to current licence positions, using Unity’s own “What’s changed” statements, are:
| Revision | Change recorded by Unity |
|---|---|
| 2023-04-03 | Update to provide for the Industry Offering and to change data collection and modification-of-terms sections[14] |
| 2023-11-06 | Clarified which Unity versions the Runtime Fee applies to and added the right to stay on the prior accepted terms[5] |
| 2024-10-10 | Runtime Fee removed; tier eligibility updated (Personal ceiling from USD 100,000 to USD 200,000)[6] |
| 2024-12-04 | Student Plan allowed commercial use up to USD 1 million over twelve months, with a ten-year cumulative eligibility limit[7] |
| 2025-08-13 | Changes affecting platform holders that own a platform that is not a Unity Supported Platform; more Industry Customer examples; more User Modifications examples[8] |
| 2026-06-30 | Aligned the definition of Platform; restored the Designated User term; widened User Modification to include conversion, transpiling, porting and wrapping and to cover modifications made by Affiliates or third parties; clarified that minimum commitments may apply at the Enterprise tier[9] |
Unity 7 evaluation terms
Unity 7 is available as an Evaluation Version under Unity 7 Additional Terms published on 6 October 2026. Those terms lift the usual 30-day and single-employee limits and permit commercial use, while Unity retains the right to suspend access and to update its pricing or business model when Unity 7 becomes a generally available product.[12] The default Evaluation Version rules in the Terms of Service otherwise limit use to thirty days and non-commercial internal evaluation.[13] Because the Runtime Fee episode began with a change to terms that Unity later reversed, a customer shipping on an evaluation build should record which terms applied on which date.
Records worth keeping
- The accepted version and date of the Editor Software Terms for each named Editor version in use.
- The Total Finances evidence used for the tier decision at each renewal.
- Any written authorization from Unity for Industry runtime distribution or internal deployment.
- The renewal date of each plan, since price changes apply at renewal and not mid-term.[3]
Out of scope
This article does not reproduce the thresholds of Unity’s original 2023 Runtime Fee announcement, which are not part of the current Unity terms. It also does not cover court proceedings, securities matters or commentary about the episode, none of which are Unity licensing documents.