Unreal Engine 4 Game Engine Subscription services

[slohand]

Epic Games revealed during GDC 2014 a subscription model for Unreal Engine 4 for PC, Mac, iOS and Android. For $19 per month, the development community will have access to all the tools, features and complete C++ source code. In addition to the monthly fee, developers will also be required to pay 5 percent of gross revenue resulting from a commercial product built using this engine

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"With the release of UE4, Epic is moving to a community-centric model built around forums, a Wiki and AnswerHub Q&A, with GitHub hosting the complete C++ source so developers can utilize its robust collaboration functionality for experimentation and sharing," reads the company's PR.
In addition to the subscription model, developers can also license Unreal Engine 4 through "custom-negotiated" terms. This is for companies that want a closer relationship with Epic, or those who seek to reduce or even eliminate the 5 percent royalty in exchange for up-front payment

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According to the company, the Unreal Engine 4 engine and game code are developed in C++, using Microsoft

Visual Studio and Apple's Xcode. Epic's new engine provides a "rich" suite of tools including:

• The Blueprint visual scripting system, giving designers and artists unprecedented power to construct gameplay logic without programming
• A visual material editor
• The Persona animation system
• The Matinee timeline-based machinima and cinematics system

"Epic's goal is to put the engine within reach of everyone interested in building games and 3D content, from indies to large triple-A development teams, and Minecraft creators as well," said Epic's Tim Sweeney in a blog. "Having the full C++ source provides the ultimate flexibility and puts developers in control of their schedules and destinies: Whatever you require to build and ship your game, you can find it in UE4, source it in the GitHub community, or build it yourself – and then share it with others."