Any legal dispute with Unity that is not handled through arbitration must be filed in courts located in San Francisco, California, and California law governs the agreement regardless of where you are located.
This analysis describes what Unity's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
For developers outside the United States, this clause requires disputes to be litigated in a foreign jurisdiction under foreign law, which creates a practical barrier to seeking legal remedies even for disputes not covered by the arbitration clause.
Interpretive note: EU and UK mandatory consumer protection laws may override this choice of law clause for users in those jurisdictions, making the practical governing law for international developers uncertain.
The updated terms establish explicit restrictions on how developers and organizations can use Unity's platform in connection with artificial intelligence and automated systems. Specifically, the terms now require prior written authorization from Unity before training machine learning or AI models on Unity data or any data derived from it. Additionally, the terms restrict automated access to the platform through scrapers, bots, AI agents, large language models, and similar systems unless they operate through a framework designated or operated by Unity. Users remain responsible for any automated systems acting on their behalf, and breaches of these restrictions may result in account suspension. You can request prior authorization from Unity for AI training use cases, and you may review the full updated terms to understand which automated frameworks are Unity-approved.
View change record →The updated terms clarify that users in England will have disputes resolved through the London Court of International Arbitration, with disputes governed by New York law rather than English law. Previously, England was not explicitly listed in the dispute resolution table, creating ambiguity about which arbitration rules and governing law would apply. The revised language removes this ambiguity but establishes that England-based users will proceed through arbitration in London under New York substantive law. Users in other regions (Asia-Pacific, China/Hong Kong/Macau, and worldwide locations) see reorganized dispute resolution tables with the same arbitration rules and governing law, but clearer formatting.
View change record →Non-US developers who have a dispute with Unity that falls outside the arbitration clause must pursue it in California courts under California law, creating a geographic and legal barrier that makes individual legal action impractical for most developers outside the US.
How other platforms handle this
In the EU and EEA, the choice of Texas governing law shall not apply only where a mandatory consumer protection law explicitly prohibits such choice of law provisions.
For any claims that are not subject to arbitration...U.S. Residents: Delaware law; venue exclusively in the state or federal courts in New Castle County, Delaware
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California and the United States without regard to conflicts of laws provisions
"These Terms and any action related thereto will be governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of laws provisions. The exclusive jurisdiction for all Disputes not subject to arbitration will be the state and federal courts located in San Francisco County, California, and you and Unity each waive any objection to jurisdiction and venue in such courts.Excerpt from Unity's Terms of Service
REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: Choice of law and exclusive jurisdiction clauses are standard in US software agreements but face limitations in international contexts.
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For developers outside the United States, this clause requires disputes to be litigated in a foreign jurisdiction under foreign law, which creates a practical barrier to seeking legal remedies even for disputes not covered by the arbitration clause.
Non-US developers who have a dispute with Unity that falls outside the arbitration clause must pursue it in California courts under California law, creating a geographic and legal barrier that makes individual legal action impractical for most developers outside the US.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 266 platforms. See the full comparison.
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