Independent developers who want to make use of Epic Games' popular Unreal Engine tools can now do so for free, as long as their revenue stays below $50,000. Epic's move could provide a springboard for small, short-on-cash dev outfits, including those whose sights are aimed at casual games on the iPhone and Android platforms.
Epic Games has created award-winning series like "Gears of War" and "Unreal Tournament," as well as a popular proprietary development platform. That platform, Unreal Engine, doesn't only appear in Epic titles, though. The company has allowed other developers to license it -- for a fee.
Now it's opening up that platform to independent developers with no upfront cost.
A Boon for Small-Time Developers
Unreal Engine has been used by some of the top developers in the industry, but Epic has been on a mission lately to expand its reach. Last year, it introduced a version of the engine called "Unreal Development Kit" and offered it at a relatively low licensing fee. In fact, for educational games or other non-commercial applications, developers didn't need to pay anything.
And for those with commercial aspirations but not a lot of spare room in their budget, Epic made Unreal Development Kit available for US$99, with no royalty fees required unless the game pulled in revenues of more than $5,000.
Now Epic has nixed the $99 upfront fee and raised the royalty requirement to $50,000.
Under the new rules, developers are not required to pay royalties on revenue earned from the use of the kit until revenue exceeds $50,000, according to Epic Vice President Mark Rein.
Epic did not respond to requests for further comment.
Impact on Casual Games
This news could catch the interest of developers of "casual" games, which has become an increasingly large part of the gaming industry over the last few years. With platforms like Nintendo's WiiWare, Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Xbox Live Indie Games, and Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation Store, there are more ways than ever for the underdogs to get their shot at glory.
This is a move in the right direction, Ted Hung, founder of Moment Games, told TechNewsWorld.
"Small developers have historically had a huge disadvantage. Before the days of the Internet, there was no way a small studio could have even been able to create a game. There are so many ways to get noticed now, and with companies like Epic offering such great tools to those who may not otherwise be able to afford them, no one is getting shut out anymore. It's a great time to be an independent developer," said Hung.
Advancement Potential for Mobile Games
The potentially bigger story here is with mobile games. Epic made its Unreal engine available for Android and iPhone developers late last year, and that sets the stage for a 2011 packed full of mobile games that push the technology to its limit.
We could soon see a cataclysmic shift in the gaming environment, said Lee S. Barney, author of the book Developing Hybrid Applications for the iPhone.
"Mobile devices are going to give the standard gaming devices a strong run for their money. Gaming is about what is new and cool and last year is too old. The winner in this space will be who can create the latest and greatest thing the fastest," Barney told TechNewsWorld.
"Right now we are seeing the greatest move away from big development houses that has happened in the history of computing. Not even at the beginning of the PC era were there so many independent and small developers," Barney added.
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