During the presentation at Unreal Fest 2023, Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games, announced that the company would be raising the price of using Unreal Engine for non-gaming purposes such as movies, television, and automotive industries. However, specific pricing details were not provided, although Sweeney mentioned that it wouldn’t be excessively cheap or expensive. The pricing structure will be user-centric, similar to how Maya or Photoshop calculate their prices.
It’s important to note that there will be no price adjustments for users utilizing Unreal Engine for game development.
Sweeney justified this price increase by citing the company’s financial issues, which have been evident for the past 10 weeks and recently led to employee layoffs.
Additionally, Sweeney shared further information that educational and student users will still have free access to Unreal Engine. Furthermore, independent filmmakers and low-income projects will be eligible for free usage or special pricing.
This announcement comes after Unity’s decision to change its licensing model, which sparked significant protests and ultimately forced Unity to revise its pricing strategy. It’s clear that Unreal Engine, in contrast, has not made any changes within its game developer customer base.
TLDR: Epic Games CEO, Tim Sweeney, revealed at Unreal Fest 2023 that they’ll increase the price for non-gaming use of Unreal Engine. The structure will be user-centric, resembling Maya or Photoshop’s pricing model. Game developers won’t face any adjustments. Financial difficulties led to the decision, with recent employee layoffs. Educational and student users will still have free access while independent filmmakers and low-income projects will receive free usage or special pricing. This announcement follows Unity’s pricing alteration, which caused protests, contrasting Unreal Engine’s unaltered strategy for game developers. (212 words)
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