Unreal Engine free = smart. Very smart.
This was unexpected news for me today. Seems like a generic page, so to sum in case the link changes content in the future, they are announcing that Unreal Engine 4 is now "free". I say it that way because it sounds like it is free to get the tools, use it, etc... but pay 5% royalties from software made with the engine, with the message "We succeed when you succeed". That is an ideal I actually really like. And the 5% royalty is smaller than what Apple and MS take for their stores... but then, the most prolific uses of Unreal are trending in that direction, so it also means another person taking a slice of your profits in perpetuity.
I think this is a smart move anyway because the Unreal Engine is already widely pervasive and is more or less an industry standard for gaming across numerous genres. Not sure what this means for existing licensees or for free or free to play models. But going forward it lowers the barrier for using this engine which should make it even more widely used. My guess is that the market for paid subscribers under a traditional model were drying up.
But, this model is still good even there. Assuming it doesn't drive big businesses away. If the royalties have no cap (and I assume they don't) then one or 2 massively successful titles a year could be worth more than their all of the prior fees combined while letting the smaller devs get off with cheaper access and hobbyists to get off free.
The Unreal Engine also supports a number of emerging technologies like VR which need a platform/catalyst to help them get the support that they need prior to breaking through the mainstream. I like the HoloLens concept more than I like any VR concept I've seen, but a project like this opening up a prime development engine could mean VR takes hold as a stopgap solution prior to Holographic tech or even temporarily destroys the industry. Though, there is also a good chance that Unreal Engine could even support HoloLens somewhere down the road as well. Frankly, I don't see VR and HoloLens as mutually exclusive tech. Holographs and Virtual Reality are two drastically different things that simply happen to have a huge perceived overlap.
Anyway, about the only way things go sour here is if the big game studios aren't able to go the traditional licensing route, and want to bad enough that they are willing to bail on Unreal and develop their own competing engine or license something else.
Regardless of how things go with licensing, I think this is a great move for the industry as a whole and should have a positive impact on the indie gaming scene and may even get some new players involved. Most of the good multi-platform gaming engines cost a decent chunk up front, but for an indie studio or an independent developer it generally isn't feasible to jump into the market without using someone else's and that is why this could make a huge difference.
I think this is a smart move anyway because the Unreal Engine is already widely pervasive and is more or less an industry standard for gaming across numerous genres. Not sure what this means for existing licensees or for free or free to play models. But going forward it lowers the barrier for using this engine which should make it even more widely used. My guess is that the market for paid subscribers under a traditional model were drying up.
But, this model is still good even there. Assuming it doesn't drive big businesses away. If the royalties have no cap (and I assume they don't) then one or 2 massively successful titles a year could be worth more than their all of the prior fees combined while letting the smaller devs get off with cheaper access and hobbyists to get off free.
The Unreal Engine also supports a number of emerging technologies like VR which need a platform/catalyst to help them get the support that they need prior to breaking through the mainstream. I like the HoloLens concept more than I like any VR concept I've seen, but a project like this opening up a prime development engine could mean VR takes hold as a stopgap solution prior to Holographic tech or even temporarily destroys the industry. Though, there is also a good chance that Unreal Engine could even support HoloLens somewhere down the road as well. Frankly, I don't see VR and HoloLens as mutually exclusive tech. Holographs and Virtual Reality are two drastically different things that simply happen to have a huge perceived overlap.
Anyway, about the only way things go sour here is if the big game studios aren't able to go the traditional licensing route, and want to bad enough that they are willing to bail on Unreal and develop their own competing engine or license something else.
Regardless of how things go with licensing, I think this is a great move for the industry as a whole and should have a positive impact on the indie gaming scene and may even get some new players involved. Most of the good multi-platform gaming engines cost a decent chunk up front, but for an indie studio or an independent developer it generally isn't feasible to jump into the market without using someone else's and that is why this could make a huge difference.
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