Want in in the gaming industry? Well, now is a good time! Epic Games has made the Unreal Engine 4 available for no cost at all. Yes, it’s free, complete with regular updates and bug-fixes. Users can apply the engine not only in games, but also on subjects such as movies, VR, and education. The good news might sound too good to be true, but there’s a catch: 5% of royalties should be paid to Epic Games for every released application or game after the first $3,000 per quarter.
Tim Sweeney, founder of Epic Games, further elaborated on the matter stating, “It’s a business model that’s open for everybody, that one in which we succeed only when you succeed.”
Despite the unabated popularity, games that currently sport the Unreal Engine 4 are very limited. Games such as Kingdom Hearts III, Street Fighter V, and Tekken, have yet to realize the capabilities to deliver eye-popping visuals from this gaming engine.
Unreal Engine 4 is available here. The registration process only takes less than a minute, asking only for an e-mail and password. After blazing through the registration, the user can then download a 60+ MB launcher. If you’re in the Philippines, the next step might require you to sleep, play something, or go out with friends, as the launcher would require you to download about 3GB of data.
Suffice to say, the business model employed in Unreal Engine 4 is definitely enticing especially for those looking to have a career in video game development. If you’re a total newb, Epic has made various e-manuals and tutorial videos available for consumption in their site. To add, the engine is not only limited to the PC and consoles, but is also applicable in mobile games. Who knows, maybe you’re the next solo developer to break gold?
