[HN Gopher] Updating Unreal Engine Pricing in Late April
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Updating Unreal Engine Pricing in Late April
Author : samspenc
Score : 47 points
Date : 2024-03-12 16:34 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.unrealengine.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.unrealengine.com)
| samspenc wrote:
| Epic basically confirming details of what they had hinted at last
| year: "We are introducing a new seat-based Unreal Subscription
| when we release Unreal Engine 5.4. This new pricing of $1,850 per
| seat will apply to companies generating over $1 million USD in
| annual gross revenue who are not creating games."
|
| This makes the pricing model for non-game users (e.g., film
| makers, VFX studios and architecture firms) similar to that for
| game creators, basically the software remains free for indie
| makers until $1 million USD in gross annual revenue.
| agar wrote:
| As this change mostly affects filmmakers, it's interesting timing
| that Unreal Engine got a shout-out during an Oscar thank you
| speech.
|
| According to Epic, this is the first time that a film made in
| Unreal Engine 5 won an Oscar for Best Animated Short. ("WAR IS
| OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko")
| apetresc wrote:
| > You will only need to pay for seats if you meet all of the
| following criteria:
|
| > - You are a company that generates over $1 million in annual
| gross revenue
|
| > - You do not create games
|
| > - And you do not create applications that are licensed to
| third-party end users and rely on Unreal Engine code at runtime
|
| Am I reading it correctly that companies that create games are
| exempt for non-game-related uses? If so, does this just create an
| obvious loophole where a big movie studio can just "develop" some
| mobile game and continue to use it for free for their film-
| making?
| kevingadd wrote:
| It wouldn't surprise me if they've decided that it's better to
| keep the rules simple and leave loopholes than to try and chase
| down every last dollar in a way that pisses people off.
| Macha wrote:
| This is the PR announcement and not the legal agreement,
| possible they address this in the actual terms.
| 999900000999 wrote:
| I think it's obvious that they mean if you use Unreal for non
| games you have to pay, even if you upload a binary to itch once
| a year.
|
| I'd imagine if you're grossing over a million a year you aren't
| looking at loopholes to avoid paying a nominal amount if money.
| mwkaufma wrote:
| "non-games" makes sense since films/vfx don't generate the sales
| royalties that games do -- compared to the cut they take from
| successful games, this is actually really cheap. And it's a _lot_
| cheaper than "no listed price; call us for a quote" licensing.
| boarnoah wrote:
| The most interesting takeaway for me is:
|
| > For studios or companies purchasing more than ten Unreal
| Subscription seats, Epic Direct Support will be available to
| purchase for an additional $1,500 per seat annually.
|
| So ballpark that to a minimum yearly spend of about $18k in order
| to access the UDN (what is referred to there as Epic Direct
| Support)?
|
| This is interesting since normally the terms for what it would
| cost to get UDN access are not public and instead requires you to
| reach out to Epic first.
| ThouYS wrote:
| This is about synthetic training data generation as much as it is
| about films
| meatmint wrote:
| I wish they'd offer some clarity on non-profit use. A client of
| mine uses it, but doesn't make money on what they release
| (although it does help facilitate donations).
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