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That free game for Assassin’s Creed Unity comes with a catch

free game assassins creed unity comes catch catacombritual 1415412377
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Ubisoft’s website for Assassin’s Creed Unity season pass holders to redeem their free game is live, but you might want to read the terms and conditions before taking them up on it, because there is a catch. By accepting the offer of a free game as recompense for Unity‘s rocky launch, you forever void your right to take legal action against Ubisoft regarding Unity or its season pass.

The gist is that by accepting the free game, you agree to never seek further compensation from Ubisoft or any of its affiliates for problems related to Unity or any of its future content. This applies to both personal and class-action lawsuits. The full, dense legalese reads as follow:

“You hereby irrevocably and unconditionally RELEASE, WAIVE, AND FOREVER DISCHARGE AND COVENANT NOT TO SUE Ubisoft Entertainment S.A., and each of its past, present and future divisions, parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, predecessors, successors and assigns, together with all of their respective past, present and future employees, officers, shareholders, directors and agents, and those who give recommendations, directions, or instructions or engage in risk evaluation or loss control activities regarding the Campaign (all for the purposes herein referred to as “Released Parties”) FROM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY TO YOU, your assigns, heirs, and next of kin FOR ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, DEMANDS, CHARGES, LAWSUITS, DEBTS, DEFENSES, ACTIONS OR CAUSES OF ACTION, OBLIGATIONS, DAMAGES, LOSS OF SERVICE, COMPENSATION, PAIN AND SUFFERING, ATTORNEYS’ FEES, AND COST AND EXPENSES OF SUIT, KNOWN OR UNKNOWN, SUSPECTED OR UNSUSPECTED, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE PURCHASE, ACQUISITION, RENTAL, POSSESSION AND/OR USAGE, AND/OR THE INTENT TO PURCHASE, ACQUIRE, RENT, POSSESS AND/OR USE, THE ASSASSIN’S CREED UNITY VIDEO GAME AND/OR THE ASSASSIN’S CREED UNITY SEASON PASS ON ANY AND ALL PLATFORMS, AND/OR RELATED TO THE CAMPAIGN, WHETHER CAUSED BY THE NEGLIGENCE OF THE RELEASED PARTIES OR OTHERWISE.”

In November, Ubisoft announced that everyone would be given Unity‘s first add-on content, Dead Kings for free, as an apology for the notoriously buggy launch. Fans that had already purchased the season pass, which includes Dead Kings, would instead be able to redeem a free game from the company’s catalog, such as Far Cry 4 or The Crew.

That generous offer is now ready, but there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch, as the saying goes. Know what you’re getting into and read before you sign, which is good advice generally for dealing with all the ballooning EULAs that consumers regularly encounter these days.

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Will Fulton
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…
Unity clarifies what types of game installs count toward its new Runtime Fee
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Art of Unity

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Unity went into more detail about this in a blog post on Tuesday morning. It explains that starting on January 1, 2024, games that pass certain revenue and install thresholds will have to pay the Unity Runtime Fee. For developers using Unity Pro or Unity Enterprise, games "that have made $1,000,000 USD or more in the last 12 months and have at least 1,000,000 lifetime game installs" will have to pay the fee. For smaller developers using the free Unity Personal plan, this threshold is for titles that "have made $200,000 USD or more in the last 12 months and have at least 200,000 lifetime game installs." It doesn't matter whether or not your game was released before January 1 or this announcement, the fee will still apply starting next year if your game boots up with Unity Runtime.
This chart breaks down the fees Unity game developers will have to pay. Unity
According to a chart produced by Unity, Personal and Plus plan holders will end up paying the big fee proportionally, with it being $0.20 per install. For indie titles that have cheaper price tags and don't make that much more than $200,000 but are installed a lot, the financial risk is clear. While Unity said it "set high revenue and game install thresholds to avoid impacting those who have yet to find scale, meaning they don’t need to pay the fee until they have reached significant success," this announcement is not going over well with indie developers, many of whom used Unity Personal because of its cheaper and more accessible nature.
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Ultimately, the Unity Runtime Fee will punish developers that release receive don't receive much in the way of revenue but do see high install counts, which is not uncommon in the indie space bolstered by Xbox Game Pass and Humble Bundle. For now, Unity seems to be sticking with its decision, but this is definitely something developers using one of the most popular game engines out there will need to keep in mind when releasing games in the future.
Update: In response to the backlash, Unity posted the following statement on X:
"Today we announced a change to our business model which includes new additions to our subscription plans, and the introduction of a Runtime fee. We wanted to provide clarifying answers to the top questions most of you are asking. Yes, this is a price increase and it will only affect a small subset of current Unity Editor users. Today, a large majority of Unity Editor users are currently not paying anything and will not be affected by this change. The Unity Runtime fee will not impact the majority of our developers. The developers who will be impacted are generally those who have successful games and are generating revenue way above the thresholds we outlined in our blog. This means that developers who are still building their business and growing the audience of their games will not pay a fee. The program was designed specifically this way to ensure developers could find success before the install fee takes effect. We want to be clear that the counter for Unity Runtime fee installs starts on January 1, 2024 - it is not retroactive or perpetual. We will charge once for a new install; not an ongoing perpetual license royalty, like revenue share. We looked for ways to lessen the impact on developers, and provide ways to bring the Runtime fee to zero. If you’re using any of our ad products, Unity Gaming Services or cloud services, etc. please contact us to discuss discounts. We are actively listening to and following your questions closely. Please review our FAQ on today’s announcement. We also invite you to continue to discuss these changes with us on our forums."

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