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Licensing Fees

The first and most obvious cost of using Unreal Engine is the licensing fee. For personal projects, Unreal Engine is free to use and distribute without any restrictions. However, for commercial projects, there are several different licenses available:

  • Epic Games Store Exclusive License: This license requires that your game be released exclusively on the Epic Games Store and cannot be distributed through other platforms or retailers. The cost of this license is 30% of all revenue generated from the game, plus a $1,000 licensing fee.
  • Standard License: This license allows you to distribute your game through any platform, but requires that you pay a licensing fee of $5 per unit sold or distributed. There are no additional revenue sharing requirements for this license.
  • Perpetual License: This is the most expensive option and requires a one-time payment of $24,990. With this license, you can distribute your game through any platform and keep all revenue generated from it.

Additional Costs

In addition to licensing fees, there are several other costs associated with using Unreal Engine for commercial projects:

  • Hardware Requirements: Unreal Engine requires a powerful computer system to run smoothly, especially when working on large-scale projects. The cost of hardware can vary depending on the specific needs of your project, but it can be quite expensive.
  • Software Requirements: In addition to the Unreal Engine software itself, there are several other software tools and plugins that may be required for certain types of projects. These tools can range in cost from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars.
  • Support: If you encounter any issues with your Unreal Engine project, you may need to hire additional staff or consultants to help resolve them. This can be quite expensive, depending on the level of expertise needed and the duration of the support required.

Summary

In conclusion, while Unreal Engine is a powerful tool for creating 3D games and interactive applications, its cost can be significant for commercial projects. Licensing fees, hardware requirements, software requirements, and support costs are all factors that can influence the overall expense of using Unreal Engine. Before embarking on a project with this engine, it’s important to carefully consider all of these costs and determine whether they are within your budget.