This would probably drive all the hobbyist to learn something open source like Godot, wouldn't it? This would mean Godot would be the thing worth investing for.
No, it doesn't affect game developer hobbyists (actually, if anything, it makes them more secure, since Unreal would have a broader pool of paying clients and less beed to squeeze low-revenie games before they can afford it.) Unless you mean, e.g., movie-making hobbyists where they go from never having to pay to having some (probably, as currently exists for games, based on a revenue threshold) some condition where t…
Unreal Engine will no longer be free for all
101–110 of 123 posts
Re: Unreal Engine will no longer be free for all
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd say they already added the value but never charged for it, until now. Seems fair to me.
Which still means that this change doesn't add any value. I'm uninterested in if it is "fair" or not.
I mean, I get what you mean, but seems needlessly pedantic to just "forget" the thing that is being charged for and because there was no other changes made with the new price being added, the change itself isn't adding any value.
Regardless, I get what you mean, no value for you that they start charging. True.
Re: Unreal Engine will no longer be free for all
#103Seems like every company these days are trying to figure out how to increase the rents that they collect. No actual value add, just trying to optimize to make that top line number go up. It feels very end-of-business-cycle.
Will also be interesting to see how well subscription-based software fares when people start tightening their belts due to inflation and rising interest rates.
Re: Unreal Engine will no longer be free for all
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
What incentives are there to learn Unreal if the money you make with it will be dipped into? That percentage is subject to change, too. I don't want the success of my game to ride on paying my game's protection/engine licensing fee. It's hard enough to make money with a game and Unreal makes it harder.
Looking at it from the otherside, what incentive is there for them to pay teams developers to build Unreal Engine, and then let you use the technology for free and get nothing when your product takes off? By all means, if you don't like the terms don't use the engine, but it's hard to take it seriously when you make it sound as if you're doing them a favor using their engine for free.
Businesses should study their markets. Sadly, many people in the market are completely fine giving away things to get shiny, even giving up revenue. So until standards of customer treatment rise, we'll be dealing with various levels of SaaS.
Except some of us just aren't buying anything, due to the terms and lacking perceived value.
If Unreal works for you that's fine. Why do I have to like or buy it?
Re: Unreal Engine will no longer be free for all
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
What incentives are there to learn Unreal if the money you make with it will be dipped into? That percentage is subject to change, too. I don't want the success of my game to ride on paying my game's protection/engine licensing fee. It's hard enough to make money with a game and Unreal makes it harder.
Unreal can make your game possible in the first place depending on your required functionality, timeline, and budget. That can be a mightily powerful incentive.
Re: Unreal Engine will no longer be free for all
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
Rather than make excuses for more revenue, I think it's apparent that programmers cannot trust commercial engines or their business models to not up and change one day to suit Epic's revenue. In-house development doesn't suffer from this issue, and you'll have full control over the code. Unreal doing this around the same time Unity pulls its shit isn't a coincidence. As an aspiring game dev I kinda want nothing to do…
>In-house development doesn't suffer from this issue, and you'll have full control over the code. Proprietary engines suffer from plenty which you haven't stated - can be a mess to read or understand; many hacks done to accomplish a certain feature because it helped ship X feature - tons of tribal knowledge. If you've worked with a proprietary engine before, you already know documentation will be lackluster and to li…
The way AAA studios make games and do business puts me off as well, so pointing to them as an example doesn't really change my outlook. I already don't buy their games and disapprove of their business models.
If I was interested in being exploited for my passion I would consider entering that industry, but as it stands I will be going solo dev.
No game dev company out there seems to treat its staff well during a game's development, so even if I wanted to work on a game as part of a team, I'd be looking at a poor work/life balance and a stressful work environment. I'm too old for that kind of BS.
If I can't build and release the game myself, then it simply isn't good enough to release. I cannot trust collaborators to not take control of my projects, nor would I entrust creative ideas to a for-profit entity without my cut.
Long story short, I might work in the industry if it was a healthy one. Because it's not, and I still want to make a game, it falls to me and only me to make it happen. That's kind of comforting, knowing your failure or success ride on your own action instead of someone else's. Nothing is more disappointing in a group project than failing because of someone else's fuck up.
Re: Unreal Engine will no longer be free for all
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
Rather than make excuses for more revenue, I think it's apparent that programmers cannot trust commercial engines or their business models to not up and change one day to suit Epic's revenue. In-house development doesn't suffer from this issue, and you'll have full control over the code. Unreal doing this around the same time Unity pulls its shit isn't a coincidence. As an aspiring game dev I kinda want nothing to do…
I mean, why would you expect them not to charge you money for something they clearly spend tons of money in developing? They are a business. The bait and switch is real, but after N of them we have to start asking ourselves whose fault is it if we fall for the N+1th one.
It shouldn't be normal to expect to be exploited imo.
Re: Unreal Engine will no longer be free for all
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not that they suddenly became unprofitable, it's that they're (partially) owned by Tencent, and Tencent is calling in their dues. Epic took their money to try and unseat Valve, which clearly did not work. Now the economy is taking a dip, so they need money.
Why do you feel this is Tencent's doing if they're not the majority shareholder?
They own 40%, the only bigger stakeholder beeing Tim Sweeney, Epics CEO and founder. [1]
Assuming Sweeney wouldn't be the one causing it, Tencent is the party that would be able to cause the most financial headaches.
[1] https://www.fool.com/investing/how-to-invest/stocks/how-to-i...
Re: Unreal Engine will no longer be free for all
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Which still means that this change doesn't add any value. I'm uninterested in if it is "fair" or not.
So if someone builds something of value but doesn't charge for it until 2 years later, you'd say that they aren't providing value with this change? I mean, I get what you mean, but seems needlessly pedantic to just "forget" the thing that is being charged for and because there was no other changes made with the new price being added, the change itself isn't adding any value. Regardless, I get what you mean, no value…
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/28/epic-games-is-eliminating-16...
Even with the success of UE and Fortnite they're still a money losing business. They've probably been surviving off of cheap debt since 2009 but that has now ended. Multiply that by all the businesses in the Russell 3000 or whatever that have been doing exactly the same thing.
Re: Unreal Engine will no longer be free for all
#110Unreal Engine Pricing Changes - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37774917 - Oct 2023 (51 comments)