EGDF: Unity’s Install Fees Are a Sign of Looming Game Engine Market Failure
EGDF: Unity’s Install Fees Are a Sign of Looming Game Engine Market Failure
EGDF: UNITY’S INSTALL FEES ARE A SIGN OF LOOMING GAME ENGINE MARKET FAILURE In Brussels, 14.9.2023 – Step by step, video game engines are becoming key gatekeepers of European cultural and cre…
Context: EGDF is the European Games Developer Federation. The article suggests that Unity’s actions create an anti-competitive environment and that the EU should step in.
Unity’s install fees demonstrate why the EU needs a new regulatory framework for unfair, non-negotiable B2B contract terms. Contract terms Unity has with game developers are non-negotiable. With the new non-negotiable install fee, European game developers have to either withdraw their games from markets, increase consumer prices or renegotiate their contracts with third parties. For example, if a game memory institution makes games available for download on their website, a game developer studio must now ask for a fee for it or ban making European digital cultural heritage available to European citizens. The three-month time frame Unity is providing for all this is not enough.