Unreal Engine 4 is now free

[Eraser]

https://www.unrealengine.com/blog/ue4-is-free

Yeah, free, except for a 5% royalty payout for each dollar you make in gross revenue over $3000, but hey, once you reach that point, you probably stopped caring about a measly 5% anyway.

[Hipshot]

Oh believe me, when you reach high, those 5% is A LOT OF MONEY that you won't get.

But w/e, it's great that it's free. They probably felt the pressure from Unity and also the new Stingray that's coming out soon.

[Eraser]

When you're developing a triple-A title then 5% is a lot of money. I mean, if you sell 2 milion units and we assume the developer gets licensee gets 20 buck for each, then that's 40 million dollar in revenue, which means you'll be paying 2 million for the engine. Sure, it's a lot of money, but paying two million dollar for full access to middleware like Unreal Engine 4 isn't all that expensive. For indie developers who earn a couple of thousand bucks with their game, that 5% is an absolutely fantastic deal for what they're getting with UE4.

Having said that though, Unity may still be the cheaper option and offers way more than most indie devs will need.