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Update – March 3rd: we edited the article following a clarification by Epic Games on the future of Twinmotion. The tool will remain available as a standalone product, contrary to what we initially understood from the announcement.
Epic Games finally announces the details of their new seat-based pricing model for industries other than game development.
The company had indeed indicated last year that it intended to review its pricing policy for sectors not related to video games, especially regarding Unreal Engine. Animation, visual effects, and virtual production studio had benefited so far from a particularly generous pricing policy.
This change follows the financial issues announced by Epic Games at the end of 2023. In a nutshell, even though Epic Games is making a lot of money, it is also spending way too much, and new streams of revenue don’t gros as fast as expected. Which is why Epic announced the layoff of 830 people, as well an upcoming change in their princing policy. Today’s announcement is therefore the next step in Epic’s strategy to improve their finances.
Here are the upcoming changes. These updated pricing will roll out in late April, at the same time Unreal Engine 5.4 is released.
Unreal Engine: you’ll have to pay if you generate more than $1 million in annual gross revenue
For the video game industry, the current system does not change. Companies will continue to pay 5% royalties on products generating more than one million dollars in gross annual revenue over their lifetime, the first million generated by a game being exempt from royalties.
For other industries:
- if you generate less than one million dollars in gross annual revenue, whether you are a student, trainer, or amateur developer: you don’t have anything to pay to use Unreal Engine. Commercial use is allowed.
- If you generate more than 1 million dollars, you’ll have to pay an annual subscription of $1,850 per seat. Some countries will have a specific rate.
This new pricing applies to various industries such as filmmaking, TV series, architectural visualization, live events, as well as “products that incorporate Unreal Engine code at runtime and are not licensed to third parties, for example, product configurators used either internally or externally”, and immersive experiences.
However, if you create applications licenses to third-party users that rely on UE code at runtime, you will have to pay a 5% royalty on products “that exceed $1 million in lifetime gross revenue.”
Each seat allows a user to access Unreal Engine 5.4 (and subsequent updates) during their subscription. Note that Unreal Engine subscriptions also include access to Twinmotion and RealityCapture, at no extra cost.
Epic Games explains that their goal “is to fully integrate Twinmotion and RealityCapture with Unreal Engine by the end of 2025.”
However, Epic Games did clarify to us that both products will still be available as separate tools.
Finally, note that direct assistance from Epic via the Unreal Developer Network (UDN) is not included with the subscription. You will need to have more than ten seats and pay a extra ($1,500 per year per seat) to access it.
What if I continue to use Unreal Engine 5.3?
If you use Unreal Engine 5.3 or earlier, the pricing system does not change, as long as you do not update.
Twinmotion
Regarding Twinmotion, Epic Games announces licenses at $445 per year per seat.
Twinmotion will be free for education, hobbyists, and for freelancers/companies generating less than one million dollars in annual gross revenue.
RealityCapture is either free or priced per year, no more PPI
As for RealityCapture, the well known photogrammetry/lasergrammetry tool, Epic Games won’t be offering a Pay Per Input (PPI) pricing model.
RealityCapture will be free for students, education, hobbyists, and if your company earns less than $1 million in annual gross revenue.
If you make more than this threshold, individual seats will be $1,250 per year starting RealityCapture 1.4. If you still have PPI credits, you will be able to continue using them.
FAQ
The official announcement will give you some additional details, and a FAQ is included at the bottom. For example, you’ll be able to manage multiple seats within your company using the Epic Developer Portal, and you will also be able to assign seats to contractor outside your organization.
