First of all, I tried contacting Epic games about this but it has been a few months without any response, hence I ask it on this forum. Hopefully someone can give me more info about this.
My question is as followed;
I’m working on a hobby project using UE4 at home. I want to be able to work on it during lunch at my work as well. I work for a software company that uses competitive 3D engines for their own products. They say that I cannot use UE4 in the office because they would need to buy a license, and for companies like this the costs are way higher than just €19,95,- p/m. Is that true? Is a larger company required to afford a much more expensive license and do they need to buy the license even though I’m the only one using it for my project? Or can I just install the SDK on my work computer without any limitations?
I’m unable to find any detailed information about the license limitations. Again, there is no word from Epic about this when I emailed them. So any insight is warmly welcomed.
Everyone pays the same cost–and you can install your license on whatever computer you want, the only issue is if your employer would allow you to work on hobby stuff at work.
Your personal use during your free time, regardless of location, is still your use, so yes a personal license is fine, and your company does not need its own license, that would be separate. This is all assuming there is no direct crossover between your personal use and the company’s current projects.
This seems like the most reasonable interpretation of the legal side to me, but depending on the situation and amounts of potential money involved, legal interpretations can end up being stretched a lot.
If you use it remotely at home via your work PC - this looks a bit less ‘suspicious’ here, to me. The best ‘legal compatibility’ you can offer is that you go away from the office physically during free time to work with UE4 - to avoid confusion. Although that may be far from practical.
Given that you didn’t yet get a response, and your intent is good and harmless, I would personally just go right ahead and not worry about it since you’re doing nothing wrong. But licenses can be terminated.
Thanks a lot for your replies. There is only one concern the management has about this part in the EULA:
Technically, it is not my computer that I’m working with since the company bought it and I’m just using it for as long as I work there, even though I’m the sole user of this PC. However, I have an account that is password protected. Isn’t that what this part of the EULA is about? As long as no one else gets to use the software, I’m allowed to install the software on any computer that I use without necessarily having to physically own the hardware?
I guess management wants official confirmation from Epic’s office. Would anyone know an email address that I could contact? The last email I sent was to office.contact (at) epicgames
Sorry about the lack of reply to your earlier communication. Not sure where it went inside Epic to be honest. The good news is you’ve posted your question to an area we frequent. As always we are here to help.
Your UE4:Subscription license allows you to install the tools, code, etc. on any PC you deem appropriate. Any restriction on use in your work environment would come from your employer, not us. Might want to check with them to see if what you suggest is within the bounds of your work rules.
Thanks a lot for your response. I’m very glad to hear that from Epic’s side there are no legal issues with installing the engine on my work computer. I will forward the information towards management.
My intentions at work are purely hobby related so there shouldn’t be any problems with it. We’ll see.
