The pricing for Epic's Unreal Engine is altering for users who aren't making video games.

 Epic Games has announced a pricing increase for the Unreal Engine, but not for the game development community, just a week after laying off over 900 workers.

The announcement was made during a presentation by Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney at Unreal Fest 2023. Sweeney describes the impending implementation of a per-seat licensing charge for developers utilizing Unreal Engine in the film, TV, automotive, and other industries in a video shot by Fortnite Creative creator Immature (and spotted by Game World Observer).

He said the pricing will be comparable to other subscription services like Maya and Photoshop, and that it won't be "unusually expensive or unusually inexpensive." Sweeney claimed he felt it was important to make the announcement now in the sake of "transparency."

He also provided some insight into the business choices that resulted in the company's sudden and major business transformations in the preceding week. According to reports, Epic Games' "financial problems" first surfaced around 10 weeks ago, indicating that the company experienced a financial dip between late July and early September.

All of Epic Games' operations, it seems, have been "heavily funded by Fortnite" for the past six years, to the point that they have been "disconnected" from their respective revenue streams. This sheds light on Sweeney's earlier comments on the impact of falling Fortnite revenues; if the company's flagship game had begun to lose money, it's possible that other aspects of Epic Games wouldn't have been able to simply make up for the loss.

Sweeney's address should also provide some solace to developers who are concerned about the future of the Epic Games Store. He declared that the firm is committed to further developing and supporting the storefront since it is the "cure to the disease" plaguing the video game industry.

Sweeney didn't specifically mention Unity by name, but he did make reference to "other engine's royalties" being discussed in the video game industry, suggesting that Epic's transition to a new economic model will be more successful than Unity's. The only other major game engine developer to implement a revenue-sharing fee was Unity, and the announcements were met with widespread disapproval.

Developers that rely on Epic's game-making tools are unlikely to be discouraged by the news this week because Epic is not increasing the amount of royalties it receives for games built on Unreal Engine (it only takes five percent of income if developers achieve over $1 million in revenue).

As long as the price increases don't threaten to disrupt entire company's business models, the adoption of a per-seat licensing strategy for other industries is not likely to raise much of a stir.

Whether or not developers are interested in joining Sweeney and Epic Games on their quest to create a fully operational metaverse is something they should give some thought to. Sweeney, in his remarks and pronouncements concerning the layoffs of the previous week, remained dedicated to the concept of creating interconnected online worlds. It's a goal for doing business that goes beyond making game engines and entertainment software, and it's one that many in the software industry seem to have given up on.

However successful Epic Games' business move may be, it will have been accomplished at the expense of the almost 900 workers it laid off last week, which is the most frustrating part of Sweeney's address. The move stands as an example of how the game industry can chew people up and spit them out, despite the fact that Sweeney promised large severance payouts and continued to pay for health insurance for those who were let go.