Unity Runtime Fee (2023): did it need fixing?

They Fixed It / Unity Technologies

2023

Unity Technologies

Before: Unity's game engine, priced by subscription seat, with no charge per install.
The fix: Announced a Runtime Fee charging developers per install once a game passed revenue and install thresholds.
Then: Developers revolted and the stock dropped. Unity rolled back parts of it within weeks, and in September 2024 new CEO Matt Bromberg cancelled it outright.

Took it back

Back to seat pricing, with Pro up 8% and Enterprise up 25%.

Your call

More fixes nobody asked for

1985

Coca-Cola

Before: Coca-Cola, same formula since the 1880s, give or take.
The fix: Swapped the recipe for a sweeter one after it won nearly 200,000 taste tests.
Then: Calls to the consumer hotline went from 400 a day to 1,500. A group called Old Cola Drinkers of America claimed 100,000 members. When the old formula came back, Coke took 31,600 calls in two days.

Took it back

Original back on shelves 79 days later as Coca-Cola Classic.

Your call

2021

Microsoft

Before: A Windows taskbar you could put on any edge of the screen, as far back as Windows 95.
The fix: Windows 11 locked the taskbar to the bottom of the screen.
Then: Users asked for it back for five years. The September 2026 Patch Tuesday update added top, left and right positions, rolling out gradually and set in Settings, not by dragging.

Took it back

Movable again from September 2026, minus drag-and-drop.

Your call

2009

US EPA and gas can makers

Before: A plastic gas can with a spout and a little vent cap, so the gas poured instead of glugging.
The fix: EPA rules made cans spill-proof and self-closing. Self-closing vents were allowed, but most makers dropped vents entirely.
Then: Sixteen years of slow, glugging pours followed. In July 2025 the EPA wrote to can makers encouraging self-closing vents, and said confusion over its own rules was why the vents had disappeared.

Half took it back

Vents were legal the whole time. Now the EPA is asking makers to use them.

Your call