Unreal Engine 4 is Now Free for Everyone

[Shawn Zipay]

You get an engine, and you get an engine, and you get an engine! Everyone is getting a game engine! Specifically, Unreal Engine 4 is now free. There is no longer a subscription fee associated with using the engine. However, Epic still stipulates that they are given a 5% royalty on any game shipped that uses UE4 after the first $3,000 of gross revenues.

This means that the source code is free, the multi-platform tools are free, and every future upgrade to the engine is free. Last year alone saw at least 7 major updates and 12 minor updates made to the engine.

"It's a simple arrangement in which we succeed only when you succeed," said Epic's Tim Sweeney. "This is the complete technology we use at Epic when building our own games. It scales from indie projects to high-end blockbusters; it supports all the major platforms; and it includes 100 per cent of the C++ source code. Our goal is to give you absolutely everything, so that you can do anything and be in control of your schedule and your destiny. Whatever you require to build and ship your game, you can find it in UE4, source it in the Marketplace, or build it yourself - and then share it with others.

"The state of Unreal is strong, and we've realized that as we take away barriers, more people are able to fulfill their creative visions and shape the future of the medium we love. That's why we're taking away the last barrier to entry, and going free."

I would not be surprised if we started to see a massive influx of Unreal Engine 4 powered games in the months ahead. You can get started right away by heading on over to the Unreal Engine website and clicking on the big "Get Unreal" button in the middle. They also have tutorials and tips on converting your projects to UE4 from other engines.