FMOD, perhaps the most popular audio middleware solution for games, just updated their indie developer licenses effectively making the use of FMOD free for smaller indie game developers. So what defines an indie game developer here? First you need to make less than $200K gross revenue per year and second, you need to have less than $500K USD in funding for your game title. There are also some limitations on industry, so for example gambling and simulation projects do not qualify for this license.
The primary details of this announcement came via this tweet:
The key paragraph from the linked legal document is the following:
This EULA grants you the right to use FMOD Studio Engine, for Commercial use, subject to the following:
- Development budget of the project is less than $500k (Refer to www.fmod.com/licensing#licensing-faq for information);
- Total gross revenue / funding per year for the developer, before expenses, is less than $200k (Refer to www.fmod.com/licensing#licensing-faq for information);
- FMOD Studio Engine is integrated and redistributed in a game application (Product) only;
- FMOD Studio Engine is not distributed as part of a game engine or tool set;
- Project is registered in your profile page at www.fmod.com/profile#projects;
- Product includes attribution in accordance with Clause 3.
More details about the licensing changes are available here. FMod has support for several game engines including Unreal and Unity, if you are a Godot developer there is FMOD support available via this project, as well as a GDNative version available here. To learn more about FMOD and the new indie licensing check out the video below.