Following Unity’s huge pricing blunder, GameMaker is doing something different
Chicory: A Colorful Tale was made in GameMaker.
Image: Wishes Ultd., Greg Lobanov, Alexis Dean-Jones, Lena Raine, Madeline Berger, A Shell in the Pit/Finji
Following Unity’s huge pricing controversy, which saw game developers boycott the engine, GameMaker is doing something different with its technology: making it free for all non-commercial use. GameMaker is also upgrading its commercial license to PC at a one-time price of $99.99. Console game developers will still need to purchase the “enterprise” license, which costs $79.99 per month, or $799.99 per year.
“We saw other platforms take tricky steps when it came to pricing and terms, so we thought: what if we did the opposite, something that might actually be good for developers?” Russell Kay, head of GameMaker, wrote on the company’s blog. “Our success is measured by the number of people creating games! »
Kay is likely referring to the extremely unpopular changes to Unity’s pricing structure, which were announced – and somewhat backtracked – earlier this year. Unity’s proposed pricing changes are tied to the number of times a game is installed and run, and have created a lot of confusion around their complex structure. Unity no longer requires developers to join the new program, but plans to charge a fee for future versions of the engine.
Opera Software, known for its Opera web browser, acquired GameMaker owner YoYo Games in 2021. Kay said GameMaker has “seen a tripling of its active users” since then. Many commercial games use GameMaker: Chicory: a colorful story, Subtitle, Hotline Miami, and much more, but it’s also an important platform for new developers to learn how to make games. The new pricing structure makes it even more accessible to people looking to get into game development. Beyond the price of the game engine itself, GameMaker also made all its asset bundles are also free – another way to make development more accessible.
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