Hello there!
I have been working on a plugin which is added on the engine level. So technically it is “custom” engine branch.
As far as I know current marketplace doesn’t support that.
Yet I heard that we can use third-party places to sell the plugins, as long as we pay Epic Games.
So I have a few questions because plugin changes the engine code:
Can I sell it as some sort of “git patch” file for UE4?
Can I create private organization on github, with cloned UE4 branch (which will include my plugin), and sell the invitation to that organization (so people won’t have to use “git patch” file)?
Unfortunately no, we do not allow for a fully cloned UE4 branch.
You are certainly able to sell this separately and don’t need anything from us on that end. If you would like to reach out just to cover your bases you’re certainly welcome to let us know.
I hope this helps! Please let me know if you need anything else.
Is the process for selling a plug-in on a third-party marketplace the same as selling any Unreal Engine game (i.e. going through the product release checklist), or, since it’s a plug-in and not a game is the process different? The Marketplace guidelines don’t mention anything about having to do the release or royalty forms for releasing plug-ins on the Unreal marketplace.
I have a handful of plug-ins that I’ve released as open source on my github, but I’ve also been considering releasing them with built binaries for different engine versions as Pay What You Want (which I don’t believe is an option for Unreal Marketplace) on itch.io, and I want to make sure I’m checking all the right boxes before doing so.
Hey there @Fafhrd! To preface this, I am not a lawyer and this is my understanding. That said: according to the Marketplace Distribution Agreement the license is Non-Exclusive and doesn’t mention royalties outside of the marketplace. As long as your plugins don’t use any Unreal assets. I’d recommend combing through it just to verify your use case is clear.