The long running game engine GameMaker have announced some major pricing changes, including the fact that all non-console versions of GameMaker are now available for free for non-commercial use. Additionally they have announced new flat tier pricing as well as promotions for existing customers.
Details from the GameMaker blog:
Hi everyone,
We have a special gift for our community this Thanksgiving. From now on, GameMaker will be free for non-commercial purposes on all non-console platforms. At the same time, to meet the needs of hobbyist and indie developers, we are introducing a new one-time fee – a commercial licence that is replacing the current Creator/Indie subscriptions. Nothing changes for developers targeting the consoles, our Enterprise subscription remains the same.
WHY THIS CHANGE?
To say ‘Thank You’! Since we joined the Opera family, GameMaker has seen a three-fold increase in its active users! Lots of young people came to try GameMaker, over 6,000 games were published on gx.games, and as a result of the product evolution, GameMaker is now better than ever. And a bonus! It can now also be used to create animated live wallpapers that can live in the Opera GX browser or directly in Windows. That’s just a start, though – all our asset bundles will now be free for everyone.
We have seen other platforms making awkward moves with their pricing and terms, so we thought, what if we did the opposite, something that could actually be good for developers? Our success is measured by the number of people making games!
So…
Here we are – Happy Thanksgiving! The new pricing structure reflects GameMaker’s commitment to making game development more accessible and flexible. The free version serves as an entry point for beginners, a one-time commercial fee is for the curious ones, while the subscription-based enterprise tier provides a scalable option for more experienced developers and professionals.
Seems the team at GameMaker also managed to get a bit of a dunk in on Unity, who recently were embroiled in a pricing controversy after their new Unity Run-time fee announcement. I had expected an announcement like this from GameMaker ever since they were acquired by browser maker Opera.
Key Links
You can learn more about the GameMaker price changes and new free tier in the video below.