Epic Games Unveils New “Per Seat” Pricing For Non-Game Developers Using Unreal Engine

Ahead of April’s Unreal Engine 5.4 release, Epic Games has revealed a new pricing structure for users of the software who don’t work in the video game development industry.

The company will charge non-game developers an annual subscription of $1,850 “per seat” to use the engine, with several important qualifiers. Pricing for game developers will remain unchanged.

Unreal will continue to be free for students, teachers, hobbyists, and companies with annual gross revenue under $1 million. Users working with Unreal Engine 5.3 or any prior version will only be affected by the price changes once and if they choose to update to 5.4.

Companies that will need to pay for seats must meet three criteria:

• They must generate over $1 million in annual gross revenue
• They do not create games
• They don’t create applications licensed to third-party end users and that rely on Unreal Engine code at runtime

Seat-based subscribers will be allowed to create the following:

• Linear content such as tv shows, architectural visualizations, and graphics for broadcast and live events
• Products that incorporate Unreal Engine code at runtime and are not licensed to third parties, for example, product configurators used either internally or externally
• Immersive experiences that are not sold directly to individual users, such as theme park rides and interactive architectural walkthroughs

With the $1,850 subscription, Unreal Engine 5.4 users will also receive access to Epic’s Twinmotion real-time visualization tool and Realitycapture photogrammetry software. According to a release, the products are being bundled now but will be integrated directly into Unreal Engine by the end of 2025.

Until they do become integrated into Unreal Engine, stand-alone Twinmotion seats are available for $445 per year, and Realitycapture seats are available for $1,250 per year. Like Unreal Engine, each is free for students, educators, hobbyists, and companies earning less than $1 million annually.

In a release, Epic Games explained the decision to create the new pricing models, saying:

Our goal is to keep our tools free for as many people as possible, especially folks who are just starting out. These changes are designed to make long-term Unreal Engine development sustainable, so that we can continue to provide the very best, most advanced creator tools to all industries—big companies, small studios, individuals, and everyone in between.

Epic’s pricing for game developers will remain unchanged with the release of Unreal Engine 5.4. Devs will continue to pay a 5% royalty on products that exceed $1 million in lifetime gross revenue.

Epic Games will be at the Game Developers Conference 2024 on March 20 to offer a first look at what’s in store with Unreal Engine 5.4.