Hi all,
coherence has finally matured to the point of being worthy of a 2.0 version! We had the pleasure of launching Vampire Survivors’ online multiplayer on October 28th. Instead of the typical walking-on-razor’s-edge-startup-experience it was an eerily professional and smooth launch, despite going live on Steam, Xbox, and Playstation consoles at the same time. What can we tell ya – after all these years, it just works now!
On to the update at hand. We have prepared our traditional highlights blog post and full Release Notes for the detail-oriented.
Self-hosting (running coherence on your own servers), once more of a theoretical option, has been properly finalized and documented under the Hosting section in our docs, taking its rightful place beside the coherence Cloud and Client-hosting (serverless).
Even more importantly, Pricing has been reworked. Although it gets simpler with every iteration, we still assume you will have questions, and to that end we have prepared the looong and hopefully exhaustive FAQ below.
Read it down below, leave us feedback or questions, and before you upgrade to coherence 2.0 via our web portal or the Unity Asset Store, don’t forget to check out the Upgrade guide!
PRICING FAQ (SUPER EXTENSIVE VERSION)
What’s new about the coherence 2.0 pricing model?
coherence 2.0 introduces a developer-first pricing system built to be adaptable to games and studios of any size. Developers now subscribe to free or paid tiers to use the coherence development tools and then determine other payments based on how they host their game and the financial success of the game.
Key aspects of the pricing model include:
Tools Access
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A free Starter Tier for studios under $200K in annual revenue or funding
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A Pro Tier that uses a simple flat fee, studio license.
- Neither subscription tier is limited by CCU, number of projects, or deployment platforms.
Hosting Model
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coherence Cloud Hosting is based on pre-paid, non-expiring credits.
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coherence Client Hosting is based on a 3%, per-game revenue share that begins only after a game earns above $15,000 in a quarter, with a clear cap at $150,000 per quarter.
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Self-Hosting which features the same revenue share as coherence Client Hosting.
How do I choose between the Starter and Pro Tier?
Determining which coherence subscription tier to use is based entirely on a studio’s annual revenue or funding:
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Under $200,000 per year → Starter Tier (free)
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Over $200,000 per year → Pro Tier ($1,000 per month, per studio)
This determines coherence tool access. Hosting costs are determined separately.
If my studio is under $200K in revenue, is the Starter Tier really free?
Yes. Studios with less than $200,000 in revenue or funding in the trailing 12 months can use coherence multiplayer development tools at no cost. If your studio makes greater than $200,000 in the trailing 12 months you must upgrade to the Pro Tier. At any point in the future, if your trailing 12 month revenue falls back below the threshold, you can return to the Starter Tier.
What are the feature differences between the Starter Tier and the Pro Tier?
There are no feature differences between the Starter Tier and the Pro Tier. The only differences are that the Pro Tier includes initial onboarding as well as a larger amount of free, one-time coherence Cloud credits for testing and evaluation purposes.
Why doesn’t coherence use CCU-based pricing? How do credits and revenue share compare to CCU-based pricing?
After considering many models and calculating costs based on real games, the coherence team decided that the revenue share and credit systems were the most fair - both to the developer as well as to coherence.
In CCU-based systems, and other cloud consumption models, the developer often pays for capacity they do not use and this value is simply lost to the developer. In other examples, studios end up paying expensive, ongoing costs for games that are still enjoyed by players but provide no further revenue for the studio, making it difficult to justify ongoing server costs without passing those costs along to players.
At coherence, we like this model because we think it is more fair to developers. If a game is launched using coherence Client Hosting or Self Hosting and does not make much money, the developer is not stuck with huge infrastructure costs. If the games do see financial success, then coherence also gets to participate in that success without creating ongoing costs to the studio.
How does the revenue share model work, for coherence Client Hosting and Self Hosting?
When a studio deploys their game using either coherence Cloud Hosting or Self Hosting, they agree to pay coherence 3% of the game’s gross revenue, for any quarter in which that revenue surpasses $15,000. Revenue share payments are capped at a maximum of $150,000 per quarter.
How does Studio revenue affect the revenue share model?
The coherence revenue share model is on a per-game basis. This means revenue and payments are determined for each game, individually.
What happens to the revenue share payments if a studio has multiple games using coherence, each with different levels of revenue?
This model is designed to adapt naturally to the success of a game, so that developers don’t face ongoing costs for projects that are not financially successful. When a studio has multiple games using coherence, they would pay on a game-by-game basis in quarters for which each game exceeds the revenue threshold. Games not exceeding the revenue threshold do not require payment, though they still require reporting.
What counts as the “game’s gross revenue” for determining the revenue share?
Basically, it includes all the money your Game earns. Here’s what’s included:
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All sales of your Game, whether digital or physical.
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In-app purchases, DLC, microtransactions, subscriptions.
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Advertising and affiliate income earned within your game.
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Advance payments from a publisher or anyone else for your game.
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Revenue from inclusion in game services like Apple Arcade, Game Pass, or similar platforms.
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Payments for access to your Game, or for specific features or functionality inside it.
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Any other revenue that can reasonably be attributed to your game.
In short: if it’s money earned because of your Game, it’s part of your worldwide gross revenue. For more details check out our Royalty Addendum.
Do Pro Tier subscribers have special pricing for the coherence hosting options?
Studios subscribing to the Pro Tier can deduct their subscription fees from any revenue share they owe to coherence.
Example:
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A studio on the Pro Tier pays $1,000 per month to access coherence multiplayer development tools ($3,000/quarter).
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They launch a game which earns $200,000 in a quarter, which would require a $6,000 revenue share payment.
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In this case, the studio pays the difference between their revenue share payment and their total quarterly studio subscription cost.
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$6,000 RevShare - $3,000 Pro Subscription fees paid = $3,000 payment.
How does the $15,000 quarterly threshold work?
In each fiscal quarter in which a game has earned greater than $15,000 in gross revenue, the developer must pay 3% of that revenue to coherence. If the revenue for a quarter is beneath this threshold, the developer still reports the revenue but does not have to transmit a payment.
Examples:
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If quarterly gross game revenue is $10,000, the developer is not required to pay coherence any royalties.
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If quarterly gross game revenue is $100,000, the developer pays coherence $3,000 in royalties.
What if revenue changes over time, so that not every quarter is above the $15,000 threshold limit? (e.g.: revenue rises and/or falls below the limit)
Developers are only required to pay the revenue share in quarters for which gross game revenue was above $15,000. If there are quarterly periods in which the revenue falls beneath this threshold, the developer still reports the revenue but is not required to pay.
Is there a maximum revenue share payment?
Yes, the quarterly, per-game revenue share payment you pay to coherence is capped at $150,000. This prevents runaway revenue share costs for games during the peak of their success, typically at launch or the release of major updates.
How does pricing work for coherence Cloud?
coherence Cloud uses a pre-paid, non-expiring credit system. This means that studios can purchase the amount of credits they need to run their game while still being able to have some ability to predict their costs, over time. For more details, please see our coherence Cloud Hosting page and credits documentation page.
What does “non-expiring” mean, for coherence Cloud Credits?
Many consumption services reset at some regular time period, such as monthly. This means that developers might lose credits they had already paid for, resulting in an inefficient system that feels unfair to their business.
In contrast, coherence Cloud Credits do not expire. This means that a developer can purchase a pack of credits and continue to use those credits until they have none left in the account.
What happens to my game if I run out of credits?
Developers can purchase additional credits at any time. Credits can also be set up for auto-purchase a refill to make sure their game does not stop functioning. The specific amount of credits and the alert system can be set up by the developer to fit their game and business needs.
Do subscribers get credits included with their monthly subscriptions?
coherence subscriptions do not include a recurring or renewing amount of credits. The Starter and Pro subscription tiers do include a one-time allotment of credits which act as a trial for the coherence Cloud, for those who are interested.
Starter Tier → 5,000 one-time coherence Cloud Credits included.
Pro Tier → 100,000 one-time coherence Cloud Credits included.
How can studios calculate and predict how many credits their game will need?
Having worked with many studios on many games, coherence understands that calculating and predicting cloud costs can be challenging. We offer several approaches developers can use to assess and predict their consumption of coherence Cloud Credits:
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One-time subscription credits: developers can use the one-time credits included with each subscription tier to perform tests of their game to get a realistic estimate of consumption.
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Example cost calculation: Developers can use sample calculations that the coherence team has created based on real-world games as a comparison point.
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Detailed calculation: Developers can examine their game needs in depth and compare that to how coherence Cloud Credits are consumed to predict consumption at any scale, in the greatest detail.
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Speak to our team: Finally, if you are still struggling to assess the consumption of coherence Cloud Credits for your game, feel free to reach out to our team to discuss your project..
How does pricing work for Self Hosting?
Self Hosting follows the same model as coherence Client Hosting.
Can I mix matching hosting options?
Yes, developers are able to set up the hosting of their games to match their game, platform, and business needs, and to adjust how they host their game at any time. Changing hosting does not require re-writes of core game code, and can be completed with relative ease due to how coherence was designed.
If a studio switches from coherence Cloud Hosting to either coherence Client Hosting or Self-Hosting, they must then begin to self-report revenue and adhere to the rules pertaining to those hosting models.
What happens to customers already subscribed to the previous coherence subscription tiers?
Existing coherence subscribers can switch to the new subscription tiers directly in their coherence dashboard. Customers can choose to remain on their current subscriptions until June 30, 2026. After that, they must move over to either the Starter Tier or Pro Tier, based on their studio revenue.
Does revenue share apply to already released games?
No, the revenue share model will not be applied to games already released. Existing coherence customers who have projects releasing soon should contact us to discuss a tailored solution.
Do I need to report my revenue manually?
Yes, revenue reporting is self-reported. coherence reserves the right to perform audits, but the system is built on trust and fairness.
Are custom pricing terms available?
Yes, coherence does offer custom pricing solutions to ensure we can meet needs for specific games, under special circumstances. We find that almost every game fits within our existing model, but exceptions do exist. Feel free to reach out to us to discuss your project if you think you fit this case.
Is long-term support available?
Yes, coherence offers several different support options for its partner studios in different ways. These include Premium Development Support, Pre-Launch Testing Support, LiveOps & Monitoring Support, and more. We also build training and onboarding packages tailored to a studio’s needs. To discuss a specific Support need, please speak with our team.
Have more questions?
If you still haven’t found answers to your questions, please feel free to Contact Us or reach out in the coherence forums.
