Tim Sweeney says Unreal might move to a "seat based software model" in 2024

littleclaude

Unreal looks like its going to move to a "seat based software model" like Maya/Photoshop in 2024

If you skip to around six minutes Tim Sweeney explains the role out.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1709216675730542972

Tim reminds me of James Halliday, I wonder if Ernest Cline based the fictional character from Ready Player One on Tim? Its such an amazing film, just watched it again the other day.  

zetheros

he says they're mostly targeting large companies like the automotive industry and  'wont affect game developers', but it's a good thing to keep an eye on. Engine agnostic workflows are a good idea for anyone making games these days imo

thomasp

So Epic needs money and hence is firing people and restructuring their business. I imagine the move to their new campus (that whole former shopping mall they've bought a while back) in 2024 is still on though? IF so bit unfortunate to level up in terms of headquarters at a time when the company is struggling.

poopipe

I can't hear a word he's saying in that video  - if he contradicts any of the folllowing, please let me know

I got the impression that epic are cutting off fat they put on over the covid/fortnite bubble rather than panicking cos they have no money.  Most of the losses are from acquisitions aren't they?  I could be wrong, haven't been keeping up particularly closely. 

I can't see this as a bad thing really. There's a lot of people making money off the engine without Epic getting paid and if Epic want to make more money I'm a lot happier with the idea of a transparent and clear licensing model for non-game use than I am with what their competition pulled recently

I can't see them charging for hobbyist use - or indeed changing their game licensing model. Their whole engine business is built on having as many unreal users as possible in the wild.

pior

We do clickbait now

Eric Chadwick

Yeah the title there Neil, lol. You know as well as anyone it was never free to begin with.

littleclaude

Okay I have edited the title but from what I hear it looks like its going to happen. 
Maya is $225 USD per month, I just hope indie and education "seat based software model" is free/cheep as Maya is £300 per year UK / $305.00 US.
That even seems off £300 UK converted to US should be $365.82?

sacboi

https://gameworldobserver.com/2023/10/04/unreal-engine-pricing-changes-2024-non-game-devs-details

"What will change is the pricing model for Unreal Engine customers outside of game development. This will affect automotive, film, and other industries."

Edit:

I also think from my understanding he's re-positioning the company, to move into the metaverse space as well - but anyway as long as I've continued access to UE4 just for hobbyist mucking around stuff, then I'm happy as a pig in shit 

marks

industries like film, automotive, product visualization currently pay literally nothing to use Unreal, as I understand it the move to seat-based subscription is primarily for those industries and not for games. So it actually makes a lot of sense, that they're just ACTUALLY CHARGING PEOPLE for using their software in other industries now. That's basically what this is. I remember reading somewhere that they stated games licensing isnt changing.