Revving Up the Engines

An important step in making middleware game engines more affordable and widespread was taken during last year’s Game Developer’s Conference. Both Unity Technologies and Epic Games announced that their engines would come with much lower prices for subscriptions, to make development for small development houses and independent developers easier — along with sending the message to some smaller developers that they no longer have to make their own engine to survive, especially in Japan. It was partly a nice gesture, but above all else, the engine providers wanted someone to sell their engines to. Those developers would, in turn, spread the word about how efficient those engines are.

Unity and Epic (the latter especially) saw their options dwindling when developers that previously specialized with creating mid-tier games shuttered over the last half-decade. Those games can’t viably be created for the retail space anymore, which forced them to expand their horizons by making their offerings more affordable. The remaining AAA publishers, on the other hand, have their own engines for developers to use.

The intention of both at GDC was to show how versatile their engines were, made to accommodate a variety of budgets. Both have done a fine job of making small scale development less of a hassle, but they still have a way to go.

That’s why Epic dropped another bombshell announcement at this year’s GDC: UE4’s development tools will be free. Additionally, any company or outfit currently subscribing will receive a “pro-rated refund,” and Epic is giving anyone who previously subscribed a complementary $30 to spend on the UE store. This was the next logical step in getting the engine to even more developers, but this raises the question of how they could possibly make money by being so generous.

Our parental guardians told us “nothing’s free” (or a variant of it) in our youth, and beyond the appearances listed above, that’s the case here. When the game using UE4 is released, developers will have to pay 5 percent of their royalties to epic after making $3,000 back every quarter. They’re still making money on this, but that royalty percentage is unchanged from the plan they unveiled last year. They’ll make up for that when more developers start subscribing. Since they no longer need to pay $19 a month, development teams are still saving money overall.

To further hammer home how versatile the engine is, Epic released a new tech demo called “Kite.” It features what you might expect from a video with that name: a boy playing with and chasing a kite in a vast field. It works as a metaphor for what’s happening to UE4, hammered home so hard in the end that no one could possibly miss it.

You’ll undoubtedly notice how excellent their tech is, but the most noteworthy aspect is the change in theme compared to previous tech demos. They’re not showcasing their tech using some insane fire demon or alien shooting the opposition here. Given the theme of “Kite,” their target for UE4 is even more obvious. You’ll know what happened when more developers start using UE4 for their projects in the near future.

Meanwhile, Unity Technologies didn’t provide a “shocking” promotional deal for their engine, but the current deal is still affordable. They’ve been promoting the newest iteration, Unity 5, which features significant texture and visual effect adjustments. It’s available for $75 a month, or developers can pay $1,500 for a perpetual license. That seems more expensive than the above competition, but notice that Unity doesn’t ask for royalties, and could be cheaper in the long run. Unity CEO John Riccitiello (who, you know, was formerly EA’s CEO) took a shot at this. It’s also been noted that Unity requires more tools that UE4 already comes with, so that’s something else to consider.

Unity provided a highlight reel featuring games using the engine, along with…interesting pictures showcasing it. I picked the best one to use as an example for this post, of course. They did this without “Unity Chan” making an appearance by the way.

Also, don’t forget about Crytek, who’s still promoting their CryEngine to other developers. This has been left out of the engine wars as of late, partly due to the company not promoting it as well as others — perhaps the result of their recent financial woes. The other part involves developers complaining about a lack of support for the engine. This used to happen on Crytek’s forums, before the moderators started deleting them, leading to them posting frustrations on Epic Games’ forums before they did something about it. The engine has also been known for being resource intensive, bringing even the most powerful rigs to their knees.

Hopefully they’ve fixed their issues, or that they’re actively working on them. It’s available via subscription for $9.90 monthly, with no royalty fees, meaning it’s affordable. I feel like I’m giving poor Crytek the short end of the stick here, but there hasn’t been much to report on this front. They did provide a tech showcase trailer, though.

There’s also Valve’s Source 2, which any developer will have the opportunity of using soon. They also said it would be free, but were hesitant to give any details. There’s also no word on when it will release, but it’s at least something to look forward to.

Regardless of what they choose, smaller development houses, or those that need a little help, will have plenty of middleware options at their disposal. The companies creating them know where the industry is headed, and they’ve shown that they know how to play this particular marketing game.