Epic Announces New Pricing Structure for Unreal Engine Targeting Non-Game Developers.
Epic Games has made a significant announcement that will affect users of Unreal Engine outside the gaming industry. Starting next year, the company will introduce a new pricing structure for the popular 3D graphics engine. This change means that industries using Unreal Engine for purposes like VFX, animation, and film production will now face subscription fees on a per-seat basis, marking a departure from the previous royalty-based system.
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Tim Sweeney addresses Epic Games Layoffs… #UnrealFest pic.twitter.com/49t4Tf20SA
— Immature (@ImmatureGamerX) October 3, 2023
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Until this development, Epic Games did not impose direct charges for Unreal Engine usage. Instead, they collected royalties only from projects generating over $1 million in revenue and utilizing the engine’s code. This meant that non-gaming users, such as those in film and visualization, did not incur any charges. However, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney announced at Unreal Fest 2023 that Unreal Engine would transition into a licensable software, similar to tools like Maya or Photoshop. This transformation would be accompanied by a subscription-based pricing model, primarily impacting studios engaged in non-gaming activities like animation, VFX, and visualization, who will now be subject to a seat-based enterprise software licensing model.
This news follows the backdrop of significant layoffs at Epic Games, where approximately 16% of the workforce (around 830 employees) lost their jobs in September. In a note to employees, Sweeney cited overspending as the reason behind these layoffs. Additionally, Epic Games revealed plans to sell Bandcamp, a platform it acquired last year for independent music artists, and to spin off SuperAwesome, a company specializing in “kid-safe” digital experiences.
Epic’s decision to alter Unreal Engine pricing coincides with Unity’s recent controversial attempt to introduce a new pricing model that would have charged developers each time a Unity game was installed. In response to backlash from developers, Unity backtracked and announced revisions along with a “fireside chat” to address the concerns surrounding the initial pricing change.
