„First Million is Free” - New Usage Rules of Unreal Engine
Epic Games has amended Unreal Engine's license terms. From now on, developers may use this engine for commercial purposes free of charge until they earn a million dollars in gross revenue from games created using the technology.
Yesterday's presentation of Unreal Engine 5 received a lot of attention in the gaming industry. However, this is not the only significant report on this popular technology. Megan Fox from Glass Bottom Games (SkateBIRD) noticed an intriguing change in the conditions of using Unreal Engine. The engine's website states that commercial use is free of charge until the game created on it exceeds one million dollars in gross revenue. So far, Epic Games has demanded a 5% royalty for $3,000 in revenue. Any doubts were dispelled by Dana Cowley on Twitter in response to Fox's post.
Someone cynical and might associate this change with the announcement of Unreal Engine 5, as the change only applies to the fourth generation engine. However, this is contradicted by the information contained on the FAQ page. Epic Games has made it clear that it does not intend to change the license terms after the UE5's debut. Moreover, the company has confirmed that the change also applies to earlier agreements, provided they were signed not earlier than January 1, 2020. Of course, this is still an incentive for developers to make their games available in Epic Games Store if they anticipate achieving the aforementioned gross revenue (games released on EGS are exempt from the 5% UE royalty). However, all smaller creators will benefit from the change, regardless of their target platforms.
