Terraria devs donate $100k to Unity alternatives after Runtime Fee controversy
Re-LogicRe-Logic, the developers behind Terarria, have pledged to donate $100k each to two Unity alternatives following the company’s recent controversy.
Many developers in the gaming industry are still reeling from Unity’s controversial Runtime Fee policy change. The announcement said that starting in 2024, the company would charge developers money each time a game built in Unity is downloaded.
Reactions to the announcement have been largely negative, with developers like Massive Monster, the team behind Cult of the Lamb, threatening to delete the game altogether on January 1, 2024.
However, other developers have started to take action to support Unity alternatives. For example, Terraria developer Re-Logic has promised to donate $100,000 to two source engines following the Unity controversy.
Terraria devs donate huge sum to Unity engine alternatives
On September 19, 2023, the official Terraria Twitter/X account tweeted a statement denouncing Unity’s policy change.
“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.”
While Re-Logic admitted it doesn’t use Unity when making games, it made its feelings on Unity’s new policy very clear. “We unequivocally condemn and reject the recent TOS/free changes proposed by Unity and the underhanded way they were rolled out.”
As such, Re-Logic has pledged to donate $100,000 each to two open-source engines: the Godot Engine and the FNA engine.
Additionally, the developer will be sponsoring each of the engines with $1,000 a month for the foreseeable future. In return, the developer asks, “They remain good people and keep doing all they can to make these engines powerful and approachable for developers everywhere.”
While Unity has claimed it will adjust the Runtime Fee policy following the backlash, for many developers — including Re-Logic — the damage has already been done.
“Even if Unity were to recant their policy and statements, the destruction of trust is not so easily repaired.”