How do I know which license tier I have?
And how would I upgrade a tier if I need to?
As far as I know, you donât need to upgrade a tier. Which tier you have to buy depends on your income in the 12 months before the moment you buy the product. If in the future, you start earning more, you donât have to upgrade anything. The new price applies only to new products you decide to buy.
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For individuals: does the income limit only apply to unreal engine + game dev income? Or all income even from my job?
The licence speaks about your gross income. So, I suppose everything you earned in the last 12 months from any source, including your non-gamedev job. But it doesnât concern what you may earn in the future, thatâs why you donât have to worry about being obliged to upgrade later.
Hmm it says "You are only eligible for a Personal - Reference Only tier or Personal tier if, at the time of the Transaction you, together with any controlling entity and other entities under common control with you, have not generated more than $100,000 USD in gross revenue from your commercial activity in the digital content industry in the last 12 months. "
Iâm not sure what counts as âdigital content industryâ
Good catch. I didnât noticed that remark, because Iâm below the soil in any way.
Maybe support or @skfabby can clarify this, please?
Ya seems odd that the terms doesnât define what digital content industry means.
I think itâs very important they define it. Iâm not a lawyer, but I suspect this could be a legal issue in case of dispute on the terms.
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The whole Professional tier is already bad because its requirement of 100k is so low that solo indie devs in western country already count as being obliged to buy a Professional license.
Considering there is no cap on how big the price difference can be, some sellers charge disproportionally more for professional licenses, like $10 personal licenses turn to $1500 professional licenses.
You donât pay x10 more for a Windows license if you use it in a business. Forcing solo indie devs to pay x10 more for an asset license - as if they are rolling in money, abusing content creators - is ridiculous.
FAB is in a desperate state. Most assets donât have sufficient documentation and decent support from the seller. Now we got some weird asset license tiers, which enforce gatekeeping and put additional burdens on smaller indie devs.
Meanwhile, potential big FAB buyers â at whom those licenses should aim â will remain unaffected because AAA studios are developing their own custom assets and donât buy assets on FAB.
FAB should raise the 100k to 1 million for Professional licenses, just like Unreal Engine already has for years.
This is not a thread about if Epic choice is right or wrong, itâs about to know how exactly are the conditions for the professional tier.
It seems itâs not only the gross income that counts but also how one earns that income.
Now, the question is where Epic has written the definition of digital content industry. Thatâs all.
Hi there 
I donât have a definition for âdigital content industryâ but Iâve shared your feedback with the team and weâll see if itâs something we can add in the future. Thanks for calling it out.
So unless I missed it, nobody has answered the question originally asked â how do we know what license type we have? When I purchase a bundle from Fanatical or Humble Bundle, all they do is provide a key for each product. They donât specify which license type it is, and the Epic/Fab redemption screen just lists the product name (no license type). How do we know which license type we have for each asset we own?
Well, I submitted a support ticket about this, and the response is less than satisfactory:
QUESTION: âHow do I know which license type (personal or professional) I own for each of my assets?â
ANSWER: âUnfortunately Fab does not have an intuitive way for users to check which license they purchased at this time. Though we here at Fab Support can check and let you know which license you have if you let us know which listing you want us to check for you.â
I then asked a lengthier question regarding the license type required, which every other company would be able to answer, and the response was wholly unacceptable:
QUESTION: "How do you define âcommercial activity in the digital content industryâ? If I am a musician and create and sell my own music via iTunes, Amazon, Bandcamp, etc, then that is digital content, but it has nothing to do with gaming or with Unreal/Fab assets. If I write eBooks and sell them on Amazon, etc, then that is digital content, but it has nothing to do with gaming or with Unreal/Fab assets. Do either of those scenarios count toward your âcommercial activity in the digital content industryâ, and if so, then why?
What if I create and sell my own music or other assets on Unity Asset Store, Fab, or other asset marketplace? Do those count as âcommercial activity in the digital content industryâ, even though they have nothing to do with creating a game myself, and if so, then why?"
ANSWER: âUnfortunately, we are not able to provide more specific feedback on this to buyers. If you are unsure of which license you require at the time of the transaction, we recommend reviewing this with your own legal counsel.â
So Epic/Fab create an End User License Agreement, place specific terms in that agreement, and then refuse to define those terms, ensuring that you CANNOT know if you are legally abiding by the license agreement.