Hi everyone,
I’m a hobby developer working on a small stylized project in UE5, and I’d like to share a perspective that I think is common among people who joined the ecosystem recently.
Until the end of 2024, Megascans were free for use with Unreal Engine, and anyone who claimed the library on Fab before the deadline now owns tens of thousands of assets permanently. I missed that window by about a month. Now I’m paying per asset, and in practice most of the assets I need cost around 3–5 € each, not the low prices I remember being communicated when the change was announced.
For a single small scene (floor, walls, props, some vegetation) that easily adds up to 20–40 assets, so 100–200 € for one environment. For a whole game, that’s simply not realistic for a solo dev or a beginner.
That leaves newcomers in an awkward spot:
- Developers who were around in 2024 have a huge, permanent library.
- New developers, the ones Unreal usually wants to attract, start with almost nothing and pay full price for each piece.
- The free alternatives (Poly Haven, ambientCG, the rotating free Fab assets) are great, but they don’t come close to the breadth and consistency of Megascans.
So my questions and suggestions:
- Is there any plan for a subscription or bundle model? Something like a monthly or yearly plan for access to the Megascans library (even with limits) would make it predictable and affordable for small developers.
- Could there be a “starter” or education tier, e.g. discounted access for new accounts, students or teachers, or a curated free base set of Megascans (materials, basic rocks, foliage) that every UE user gets?
- Could pricing for single assets be revisited? For individual surfaces and small props, 3–5 € feels high when you need dozens of them.
I’m not asking for everything to be free. I understand that scanning costs money. But right now, the gap between those who claimed in time and everyone who came later is enormous, and it makes Unreal feel much less beginner-friendly than it used to be.
How are other newcomers handling this? Are you buying assets one by one, sticking to CC0 libraries, or switching to a stylized look to avoid needing scans?
Thanks for reading.
