For Unity 5 Personal Edition
May not be licensed or used by a commercial entity with annual gross revenues (based on prior fiscal year) in excess of US$100,000, or by an educational, academic, non-profit or government entity with a total annual budget for the entire entity (based on prior fiscal year) in excess of US$100,000.
I think Unity going free might prove a point in game development - lots of games don't get released anyway, this and Unreal going free, is great for budding developers. There is a slight difference, and only C++ developers could explain (I can slightly) - what is the difference in factor, between a language like C# and C++. In terms of most actively used by juniors or other industries, such as web development and other things, what is the bigger picture with C++? I know Objective-C and a bit of C, and define C# as having a easier library integration than C++ and Java. But I'm not that familiar with those.
If you read the fine print, it looks more like it will cost $19/month. See, they are going to charge you a subscription fee to get access to the premium Asset Store. That was a very EA thing to do, and very sneaky.
Seems like Asset Store Level 11 is like subscribing to Amazon Prime, you pay a monthly fee to get freebies and discounts, the store itself isn't locked behind a paywall. At least that's what I understand through reading it.
A new Asset Store program offering discounts and benefits. Access is free for Unity 5 Professional Edition customers.
Unity 5 Personal Edition users will soon be able to join Asset Store Level 11 for $19/month.
Unity Pro customers! Log in to access exclusive Level 11 must-have free assets and discounts.
Level 11 provides exclusive access to heavily discounted and must-have free assets. Unity Personal Edition users! Purchase access to Level 11 for just $19/month - coming soon!
Unity has had a very capable free version for quite some time. So this recent version doesn't come as much of a surprise. I always anticipated that 5 would have some manner of a free version.
What IS surprising is just how many features the free version of 5 gets. The technical limitations of the engine are removed in the new Unity 5 Free. Aside from that most of the license details from previous versions are identical. But this will give smaller developers access to quite a few nice features that they didn't have before. I can already think of several that I will personally use.
At the moment, the biggest draw for those looking at UE4 is the source-code access.
1500$ to never pay out a penny for any of the games you make is pretty alluring..and only having to pay the 1500$ if you make over 100k with the free version
Is it possible to purchase Level 11 for $20/month, get the free discounts from the Level 11 asset store, and then cancel the monthly subscription to Level 11?
(similar to the old UE4 subscription-based license - how you could purchase 1 month, and unsubscribe)
Edit: If this is possible, would I still have access to Playmaker after I unsubscribe to Level 11?
The Blacksmith cinematic was nicely done, kinda like Magneto meets LOTR and 300. Music didn't bother me but guy next to me at work hates the music
The thing that bothered me was the ring hanging from his hair didn't cast shadows on his body and I kept thinking it was floating in space somewhere as a mistake.
The new pricing structure is also a very welcome change. I'm glad they did it.
This is a terrible plan in comparison to Unreal...fail!
How so?
Unity 5 free is all the features of the engine that used to be part of Pro plus no royalties. Prior to this, Unity free was a really popular engine anyway.
So basically, almost everything you used to have to buy a pro license is now part of the free version.
So no more charging 1k+ for each devices? Android, iOS, 3ds etc?
yeah, looks like once you hit $100,000 in gross revenues you have to purchase a pro license. Considering how flooded mobile AND steam are nowadays you won't have to pay Epic or Unity.... ouch :P
The shop thing is weird but I guess it would be worth it if you buy more than $228 worth of assets a year, otherwise ignore it.
Unity 5 free
+ Free or a flat fee
+ Much ower costs after you release a successful product
- Source code and access to beta versions aren't free
- Free version isn't for schools or any commercial entity making $100k+ a year
- Additional features cost you or force you to get a pro license
- $900 a year x number of employees for pro version
Unreal 4
+ One version with 2 license options (5% royality or custom)
+ No subcription charges or locked down features
+ Source Code Access
+ Access to beta/Github builds
+ 5% royality is only for games, contracting, arch vis, video production, etc are all royality free.
+ Possible grant fund
- 5% Royalities can cost way more than $75 a month.
So lets look at costs
- If you are doing a solo project, not a business entity, or haven't made $100,000 last year, Unity is pretty much free unless you need the extra features. Unity wins if you are happy with the pro and cons.
- If you are a small 2-5 team that did make a successful game last year that made over $100,000 or needs source code access and other pro features, and you are making a game expecting to sell exactly $100,000. For UE4: $100,000 -$12,000 (first $3000 each quarter doesn't count) $88,000 x.05 = $4400 goes to Epic. With Unity, you are just paying $900 a year x number of employees, so at 5 team members Unity is more expensive at $4500, any smaller teams will be cheaper with Unity. But in this senario, the less you make below $100k, the better the royalties go in UE4's favor. And the more the game games, the better in Unity's favor it goes.
I just used $100k because it was an easy number. So if you are a team that isn't expecting a hit or a game to sell well or not finishing a game, UE4 may be nicer option if you need the pro features in Unity. Epic has that grant fund available as well. But if you can afford it, or don't need Unity Pro, you stand to make a lot more money with Unity if the game does well.
So I see UE4 as the better option if you want all the features without spending money during dev. But if you are just looking at getting the biggest profit, Unity wins out there.
UE4 is a bit more artist friendly and I like what they are doing with their support and community management, that's why there's a lot of fans of there engine on Polycount.
Also this doesn't really discuss speed of production, community, example content, asset store, or really compare the tools on any level besides costs and who can use the products for what.
Still confused as to why I would need to pay $1500 so my eyes don't hurt from a bright white editor, oh well still looks pretty sweet! Now I can switch around between UE4 and Unity without freaking out about loosing out on time I spent money for to work on my own projects when freelance work pops up.
I remember programming in Unity was pretty simple to do quickly as being someone with an art background, although I've been wanting to try out programming and blueprints in Unreal to see how difficult/easy it is to make the same prototype as well. Now I can do both with no cost worries and all graphical features unlocked! Yayyyyyyyy
I do wonder if Unity 5 will be less laggy than Unity 4 though for me. For some reason anytime a game in Unity tries to do better than simple graphics (like moving past Kerbal Space program towards Rust), it lags like hell on my computer even though it'll run super fine on games made with Unreal, using alot more polys, higher texture sizes and density, and advanced rendering. It probably depends upon a ridiculous number of variables so I know I'll probably sound stupid to any technical guy, but UE4 just seems better optimized when it comes to graphical rendering.
On the flipside, Unity has some pretty amazing extensions on their asset store, like being able to generate spherical worlds with LODs and functional gravity. If only someday the Unreal store or even engine gets to support something similar (think spore) I'd be in heaaaaaven.
Now to wait and see what the heck source 2 looks like. /prays Hammer's preview viewport is actually REALLY realtime when it comes to lighting like UE and Unity, the amount of hours I've lost in my life to tweaking lighting and baking in hammer to get it to look right... /shudders
sucks about the interface, guess I can be happy I work in a well lit room - bright interface = less eyestrain. Polycount hurts my eyes cuz it's so dark.
I'm glad to see how much of an upgrade the free edition got. I purchased Unity 4 Pro but now I'm not entirely sure if picking up Pro will be worth it since the Free version can do basically everything I could ever want. I love being able to have multiple options however, I don't have to pay a dime until I fully commit to both an engine and project. It'd be great to see this trend follow in other toolsets too.
OH MAN a rolling ball example that does everything I want! The example scene is pretty nice, I like the minimalist look and the easy menu to switch between scenes.
I think it's become quite clear that this round, all the engine devs were talking with each other and coordinating, even in a cooperative manner. I don't think Epic was interested in stepping on Unity's toes, and their business model and presentation looks like a lot more than a day's worth of scrambling.
Replies
Still don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Unity 5 Personal Edition users will soon be able to join Asset Store Level 11 for $19/month.
Unity Pro customers! Log in to access exclusive Level 11 must-have free assets and discounts.
Level 11 provides exclusive access to heavily discounted and must-have free assets. Unity Personal Edition users! Purchase access to Level 11 for just $19/month - coming soon!
What IS surprising is just how many features the free version of 5 gets. The technical limitations of the engine are removed in the new Unity 5 Free. Aside from that most of the license details from previous versions are identical. But this will give smaller developers access to quite a few nice features that they didn't have before. I can already think of several that I will personally use.
At the moment, the biggest draw for those looking at UE4 is the source-code access.
over all it is a huge win for Unity free users
(similar to the old UE4 subscription-based license - how you could purchase 1 month, and unsubscribe)
Edit: If this is possible, would I still have access to Playmaker after I unsubscribe to Level 11?
The thing that bothered me was the ring hanging from his hair didn't cast shadows on his body and I kept thinking it was floating in space somewhere as a mistake.
The new pricing structure is also a very welcome change. I'm glad they did it.
How so?
Unity 5 free is all the features of the engine that used to be part of Pro plus no royalties. Prior to this, Unity free was a really popular engine anyway.
So basically, almost everything you used to have to buy a pro license is now part of the free version.
yeah, looks like once you hit $100,000 in gross revenues you have to purchase a pro license. Considering how flooded mobile AND steam are nowadays you won't have to pay Epic or Unity.... ouch :P
The shop thing is weird but I guess it would be worth it if you buy more than $228 worth of assets a year, otherwise ignore it.
+ Free or a flat fee
+ Much ower costs after you release a successful product
- Source code and access to beta versions aren't free
- Free version isn't for schools or any commercial entity making $100k+ a year
- Additional features cost you or force you to get a pro license
- $900 a year x number of employees for pro version
Unreal 4
+ One version with 2 license options (5% royality or custom)
+ No subcription charges or locked down features
+ Source Code Access
+ Access to beta/Github builds
+ 5% royality is only for games, contracting, arch vis, video production, etc are all royality free.
+ Possible grant fund
- 5% Royalities can cost way more than $75 a month.
So lets look at costs
- If you are doing a solo project, not a business entity, or haven't made $100,000 last year, Unity is pretty much free unless you need the extra features. Unity wins if you are happy with the pro and cons.
- If you are a small 2-5 team that did make a successful game last year that made over $100,000 or needs source code access and other pro features, and you are making a game expecting to sell exactly $100,000. For UE4: $100,000 -$12,000 (first $3000 each quarter doesn't count) $88,000 x.05 = $4400 goes to Epic. With Unity, you are just paying $900 a year x number of employees, so at 5 team members Unity is more expensive at $4500, any smaller teams will be cheaper with Unity. But in this senario, the less you make below $100k, the better the royalties go in UE4's favor. And the more the game games, the better in Unity's favor it goes.
I just used $100k because it was an easy number. So if you are a team that isn't expecting a hit or a game to sell well or not finishing a game, UE4 may be nicer option if you need the pro features in Unity. Epic has that grant fund available as well. But if you can afford it, or don't need Unity Pro, you stand to make a lot more money with Unity if the game does well.
So I see UE4 as the better option if you want all the features without spending money during dev. But if you are just looking at getting the biggest profit, Unity wins out there.
UE4 is a bit more artist friendly and I like what they are doing with their support and community management, that's why there's a lot of fans of there engine on Polycount.
Also this doesn't really discuss speed of production, community, example content, asset store, or really compare the tools on any level besides costs and who can use the products for what.
also you can include a team License with personal for 20$ a month..so not everyone on your team needs a pro setup..
and as I understand it the team License isn't a lifting of a restriction..but just adds some team integration tools..
I remember programming in Unity was pretty simple to do quickly as being someone with an art background, although I've been wanting to try out programming and blueprints in Unreal to see how difficult/easy it is to make the same prototype as well. Now I can do both with no cost worries and all graphical features unlocked! Yayyyyyyyy
I do wonder if Unity 5 will be less laggy than Unity 4 though for me. For some reason anytime a game in Unity tries to do better than simple graphics (like moving past Kerbal Space program towards Rust), it lags like hell on my computer even though it'll run super fine on games made with Unreal, using alot more polys, higher texture sizes and density, and advanced rendering. It probably depends upon a ridiculous number of variables so I know I'll probably sound stupid to any technical guy, but UE4 just seems better optimized when it comes to graphical rendering.
On the flipside, Unity has some pretty amazing extensions on their asset store, like being able to generate spherical worlds with LODs and functional gravity. If only someday the Unreal store or even engine gets to support something similar (think spore) I'd be in heaaaaaven.
Now to wait and see what the heck source 2 looks like. /prays Hammer's preview viewport is actually REALLY realtime when it comes to lighting like UE and Unity, the amount of hours I've lost in my life to tweaking lighting and baking in hammer to get it to look right... /shudders
Or maybe I'm wrong.
Gonna give this a go!