“Unity Plus is being retired for new subscribers effective today, September 12, 2023, to simplify the number of plans we offer,” Unity wrote. “Existing subscribers do not need to take immediate action and will receive an email mid-October with an offer to upgrade to Unity Pro, for one year, at the current Unity Plus price.”

A Unity Plus subscription was about $400 per year. After that one year, however, it stands to reason that those former Plus users will have to pay the new Pro rate, which is currently over $2,000 per year.

Developers are also concerned these new fees could impact digital preservation efforts as now game makers are seemingly incentivized to delist older games so they aren’t charged for them. There’s also the question of how Unity plans on tracking installs and whether or not such tools run afoul of government privacy laws. Here’s a tweet from the official Unity account explaining how it intends to monitor a game’s installs.

Eoin Treacy's view

The basic business model for software companies is to give it away for free so they can build an installed base. Then make the product good enough that it is indispensable to the end user. Then start charging for it in the hope enough users will accept the change to sustain the business. The companies that have succeeded in implementing a charging model like Google and Meta Platforms have multiplied in value. Those which have failed like Twitter have not.