Unreal Engine is one of the most use game engine by today’s game development studios. Unreal Engine can be downloaded for free and comes complete with all features and full access to the source code, ready for production use. But there is a catch when you start generating income.
When do you need to pay?
Unreal Engine is available for free for educational purposes and for creating internal projects. It also allows you to distribute various commercial projects without incurring any fees from Epic Games, including custom projects for clients and content such as movies and TV shows.
A royalty of 5% is only required if you distribute a commercial product that uses Unreal Engine code (such as a game) and the total revenue generated by the product surpasses $1 million USD. The first $1 million in revenue is exempt from the royalty fee.
The royalty agreement Changed on May13,2020
Earlier the royalty structure of Unreal Engine was different. Users had to pay the 5% royalty if the revenue exceeded $3,000 USD per quarter. This was changed to $1 million USD in lifetime gross revenue per title. This was a very welcome changed as the earlier royalty model put the engine at a disadvantage when compared to other major engines like Unity.
Does Unreal Engine 5 and 4 have the same criteria for Royalty?
Yes. The royalty deal is same for both Unreal Engine 4 and 5. No matter which game engine you are using the same deal applies.
Is Unreal Cheaper than Unity?
Yes, After the change in Royalty agreement Unreal is cheaper when compared to Unity game engine. for people making less than $1 million USD in lifetime gross revenue per title. For anything above that Unity is cheaper as you need to buy the pro subscription which is less compared to 5% of $1 million USD. But keep in mind that Unity takes in the total revenue from all title for the year but Unreal considers every title as different. So, if you have two games making $600k then you don’t need to pay royalty to Unreal.
About Unreal Game engine
Unreal Engine is a popular game engine developed by Epic Games. It is used for creating a wide range of games, from high-end console and PC games to mobile games and virtual reality experiences. Unreal Engine is known for its cutting-edge graphics technology, intuitive tools and features, and a vast library of resources and plugins. The engine is free to use for educational purposes and for creating internal projects, and a royalty fee is only charged if a commercial product using the engine generates more than $1 million in revenue. Unreal Engine has a large community of developers and artists who contribute to its development and share their work, making it an excellent resource for aspiring game developers.
System Requirements
For Unreal Engine 4
- Windows 10 64-bit version 1909 revision .1350 or higher, or versions 2004 and 20H2 revision .789 or higher or Latest MacOS Ventura
- Quad-core Intel or AMD, 2.5 GHz or faster
- 8 GB RAM
- DirectX 11 or 12 compatible graphics card or Metal 1.2 Compatible Graphics Card
- Xcode version 13.4.1
For Unreal Engine 5
- Windows 10 64-bit or macOS 10.14 Mojave
- Quad-core Intel or AMD, 2.5 GHz or faster
- 8 GB RAM
- DirectX 11 or 12 compatible graphics card or Metal 1.2 Compatible Graphics Card
- Xcode version 9.4