I downloaded Unreal Engine/Editor for free a month or so ago, after reading this article from 2015: It was one of the deciding factors on whether to go with Unreal or Unity, which was on sale for ~$250 for the full package. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed learning and trying to develop my first game, with all of the amazing enhancements that puts it way out ahead of the competition…
I was discussing the new Unreal Studio Beta release with someone, who sent me this link: It mentions that Unreal Studio Beta is open for sign-up until November 2018, and the person I was discussing it with mentioned that he believed that after this point, it would become or revert to a paid product.
I’ve been doing some searching on the Unreal website, and cannot find corroboration to that. I was hoping someone could please shed some light on this.
Is Unreal Studio a paid product, in addition to the Unreal Engine/Editor package? Are they one in the same? Will Unreal Engine/Editor revert to a paid product? Or, after November 2018, will we have to pay for Unreal Studio’s additional functionality (Datasmith, etc.) if we want to continue using it?
Currently, Unreal Studio Beta is free. Publicly, we stated a November 2018 end date to this policy, but we are now thinking about extending it (you can thank Fortnite). We intend to announce our new plans within a month or two. I can’t be more specific than that at this time.
[USER=“2385108”] Elphinstone[/USER] to answer your questions more precisely. Unreal Studio is an add-on package for Unreal Engine Editor and Datasmith is a plugin for this add-on. The Unreal Engine and its Editor will be FREE as they are currently and only Unreal Studio is subject to not be free or like Ken told, this one might still gonna change.
I also read that once the beta is complete, and Unreal Studio reverts to a paid product, that we should be able to use the latest version we had installed… If this is true, are you able to confirm that if the Unreal Editor is updated, we will still be able to install an older version of Datasmith so we can continue to use the product?
This is really important for any game developer that works in a product such as Solidworks that doesn’t have the ability to output FBX files natively. (For big or small developers alike, it’s a HUGE advantage to be able to import meshes from more products, which in turn, makes your company more profitable in the long run… (I’m not a big gaming dev - I’m just one guy with a full-time job, personally, and would not be able to justify the monthly payment if only for the Datasmith product.)
The way we intended our “Subscription/permanent” license to work is:
while you’re paying us, you get access to the latest Datasmith, support, assets and special learning
when you stop paying us, you continue to have access to the last Datasmith you were eligible for, but you will not have access to support, assets and special learning
Right now Datasmith is only matched to an engine. You cannot use Datasmith 4.19 with UE4.20. I expect this to remain the case due to the large dependency Datasmith has on the engine.
So, if you stopped paying us during 4.50 release, then you could continue to use 4.50 release as long as you want, but you will not be able to use Datasmith with 4.51 unless you get back on subscription.
It’s really not subscription since you’re getting permanent functionality, maybe it should be called, “a more friendly subscription”.
I would really love to see the import functionality provided in Datasmith to be integrated directly into Unreal Editor in the future, and part of the free product. In my opinion, it’s a benefit to both Epic and the user to have the ability to import as many formats as possible.
I do understand that Solidworks (for one) is mostly responsible for the shortcomings, by not offering direct FBX file exporting, but offering multiple channels for import on behalf of the Unreal Engine is definitely one way to increase the number of people using Unreal instead of their competition.
Well, current plan is to keep Unreal Studio as a focused offering for non-game workflows and an independent offering. Given that it is currently free, there is nothing preventing anyone from using it for game workflows (but the majority of game teams are not really interested in this workflow according to our feedback). It’s more of the rare case where they can use these import options.
Time to disconnect the Datasmith from the non-game workflow, good sir! Consider it a goodwill gesture, for all of us game creators who can’t learn a new program like 3DS Max. (Don’t worry if you feel like you’re being beat on - I’m concurrently hitting up the Solidworks developers to integrate native FBX outputs into their product, too.)
My understanding is it is still a free product because of the ongoing beta testing and at some point it will become a paid product. I myself would love to get an idea of what that might be, even if just a guess. My workflow is slowing changing to make this an integral part of future plans. I would hate to get blindsided with some crazy expensive datasmith pricing that makes using it unrealistic. Unreal team, any insight?
Hi,
Our studio is currently looking into acquiring Unreal Studio licenses for everyone.
Could you please confirm if the pricing is still as above, as all mention of it have been removed from the FAQ?
Thanks
Consider it a goodwill gesture, for all of us game creators who can’t learn a new program like 3DS Max. (Don’t worry if you feel like you’re being beat on - I’m concurrently hitting up the Solidworks developers to integrate native FBX outputs into their product, too.)
