Re-Logic, the developer behind Terraria, has expressed strong support for the open-source game development engines Godot and FNA in response to Unity’s recent announcement regarding runtime fees. The Terraria team, known for their successful indie game on Steam, has criticized Unity for eroding trust with its new fee structure, which would impose charges on successful games for each download beyond a specific revenue and lifetime install threshold. In response, Re-Logic has pledged $100,000 donations to both Godot and FNA, along with ongoing sponsorships.
Unity, the creators of the widely-used Unity Engine in the game development industry, unveiled policies that would introduce additional fees, potentially reaching up to 20 cents per installation once games achieve certain revenue and install milestones. Notable games using Unity Engine include Cities Skylines, Among Us, Hollow Knight, Cuphead, and Genshin Impact.
Since this announcement, numerous developers have publicly criticized the changes. For instance, the developer of Metal Hellsinger advised players to acquire the game “while you can” as it evaluates its future, and the developer of Slay the Spire made its first-ever public statement, considering a change of engine for its next game, which is already well into development.
Terraria is not constructed on Unity; it employs a proprietary engine based on Microsoft’s XNA framework, although it incorporates some Unity elements in its console and mobile versions. Despite this, Re-Logic voiced its concern, stating, “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. We feel like we cannot sit idly by as these predatory moves are made against studios everywhere.”
Re-Logic strongly condemns the proposed changes and the way they were introduced, characterizing them as unnecessary and tragic for the industry. They emphasize that even if Unity were to backtrack on its policies, the damage to trust would not be easily repaired.
To counterbalance this situation, Re-Logic has committed to supporting emerging open-source game engines. They have announced $100,000 donations to both Godot and FNA, which are free and open-source development tools. Additionally, Re-Logic has pledged ongoing monthly donations of $1,000 to each of these engines, with the expectation that they continue their efforts to make these engines robust and accessible for developers.
Re-Logic concludes by stating that they have always been supportive of game developers and indie studios that adhere to ethical practices. They believe that their actions, by strengthening competing open-source game engines, will empower and assist struggling studios in light of recent events.
Unity has issued an apology for the confusion and concerns caused by their runtime fee policy and has indicated that changes to the policy will be made, although specific details are yet to be revealed. However, as Re-Logic’s statement highlights, repairing the relationships strained by these events may prove to be challenging or even impossible.
If this news has reignited your interest in Terraria, you can catch up on all the Terraria bosses, their locations, and how to defeat them. We’ve also highlighted the best Terraria mods to keep you engaged while Re-Logic continues work on update 1.4.5.