Epic Games has announced a new pricing scheme for developers creating non-gaming products using the Unreal Engine. The company will charge an annual subscription «per seat» of $1850. The term «per» seat actually means «person using» software. These changes will take effect with the release of Unreal Engine 5.4 at the end of April.
Although Unreal Engine is known primarily as a game development tool, it is regularly used in a variety of industries, which is what this pricing scheme is aimed at. Thus, companies that create linear content, such as TV shows and movies, or develop automotive infotainment platforms or theme park attractions will have to pay $1850. Currently, Epic Games doesn’t make money from most of these users because the end products are not, as Sweeney said last year, «royalty-generating».
The annual fee gives these users access to the Unreal Engine itself, the real-time visualization tool Twinmotion, and the 3D modeling software RealityCapture. However, organizations can purchase separate licenses for each of these products. Twinmotion will cost $445 per year, and RealityCapture will cost $1,250 per year.
However, there are some exceptions. Companies with annual gross revenues of less than $1 million will not have to pay a fee. The same applies to students, teachers, and hobbyists. Companies that develop plug-ins for Unreal Engine can continue to use the software for free, but Epic will adjust the revenue share.
Game developers will continue to have free access to the Unreal Engine, paying only 5% royalties for the created software that generates more than $1 million in gross revenue for the entire period. In 2020, Epic increased the threshold for free use from $50 thousand to $1 million.
Source: Engadget