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Epic has made Unreal Engine 4 available to all game developers with a new subscription-based model.
UE4 is available for PC, Mac, iOS and Android for $19 per month, with five per cent of gross revenue from any sales going to Epic. This gives developers access to the engine and the complete C++ source code hosted on GitHub.
Developers can also negotiate separate terms with Epic if they would rather not be charged for royalties and pay up-front instead.
The platform includes the Blueprint visual scripting system, a visual material editor, the Persona animation system and Matinee timeline-based machinima and cinematic system.
The engine and game code has been developed in C++ using Microsoft Visual Studio and Apple’s Xcode.
“This is our complete engine, with everything Epic provides to leading game developers, priced accessibly for teams of all sizes, budgets and aspirations,” said Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney.
“Now is a great time to be an independent developer. There are amazing platforms and distribution opportunities available, and with this release we hope the Unreal Engine can help developers build cool new things.”
Valve boss Gabe Newell added: “This is smart. It’s an enlightened way for developers to create great games and easily bring them to Steam."
Epic is also working on UE4 support for the Oculus Rift, Linux, Valve’s Steamworks and Steambox as well as deployment of games to web browsers through HTML5.
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