Unity adds new tiers to help wider variety of rookie developers

The battle to provide developers with the best tools to make games got another wrinkle today.

Unity Technologies revealed it is shifting to three subscription levels for its users beginning in June. During a presentation at its Unite conference in Finland this morning, the company noted it wanted to provide more flexibility for the professionals using Unity tools. Gaming is a $99.6 billion industry, and Unity is looking to serve the businesses that are chasing that cash.

Unity still has a free plan, but now it is introducing a paid level before its Pro tier. This will help it offer deeper analytics and other tools while continuing to make money from the Unity asset store, where developers upload content that other studios can purchase. The company is also using this shakeup to highlight some of the deeper services it can provide to its customers.

“We wanted to simplify. We wanted to give more value,” Unity chief marketing officer Clive Downie said. “With our three new products, we’re confident we have increased the choice, the ease of always having the latest tech available, and made Unity more affordable. In addition, we’re also offering pay to own Pro products for customers who want the peace of mind of keeping the version of Unity at the end of their subs period. We have everyone covered.”

Here’s a breakdown of the Unity subscriptions:

• Unity Personal: Free for anyone with revenues of less than $100,000 per year. Unity’s full game-making kit.
• Unity Plus: $35 monthly with an annual contract for anyone making less than $100,000 per year in revenue. Includes specialized asset store access, an optimization tool, and deep analytics.
• Unity Pro: $125 per month with annual contract. All of Unity’s tools and services.