5 ms·
Doesn't Unreal charge a "core technology fee"?
by zyang 3y ago
Doesn't Unreal charge a "core technology fee"?
- belltaco 3y agoEpic/Unreal doesn't also own 50% of the PC hardware market making tens of billions at high margins where only Unreal made Games are allowed and other game engines are banned.
- TylerE 3y agoThey're probably over 50% of AAA games. Freakin' everything is Unreal Engine these days.
- huhtenberg 3y agoBecause it's really good, not because it's the only option.
- matwood 3y agoWait, did Android suddenly disappear?
- adventured 3y agoI'm guessing they mean the app store on the iPhone, that being the only option. The iPhone itself has been consistently superior to its competition across its history (although obviously not always best at everything). And I say that as an Android fan.
- belltaco 3y agoI meant the PC hardware market, edited it.
- matwood 3y agoIn the EU, iOS sits ~33% marketshare, ~60% in the US, and ~28% worldwide.
- matwood 3y agoDifferent but yes: Under the standard EULA, Unreal Engine is free to use for learning, and for developing internal projects; it also enables you to distribute many commercial projects without paying any fees to Epic Games, including custom projects delivered to clients, linear content (such as films and television shows) and any product that earns no revenue or whose revenue falls below the royalty threshold. A 5% royalty is due only if you are distributing an off-the-shelf product that incorporates Unreal Engine code (such as a game) and the lifetime gross revenue from that product exceeds $1 million USD; in this case, the first $1 million remains royalty-exempt. https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/license https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/license
- sdflhasjd 3y agoYes, but you choose to use Unreal because it's actually good. Meanwhile Apple gives you no choice.
- kemayo 3y agoYou do have the choice to not target an Apple platform. There's lots of apps that're exclusive to Android out there. I don't like this fee model, but let's not pretend Android doesn't exist.
- pmelendez 3y agoI think the context of iOS is safely implied here. To say you have the option of going Android is as relevant as giving the option of doing a mobile app; Sure it is an option but out of the context of the discussion.
- sdflhasjd 3y agoThe choice is in the technology you use when you build an application for a user. You don't get a choice what platform you build your apps for, you already have your customers, and they already have their phones. If you're a business for which the technology provided by Apple is not a key part of the product, then you're being forced to pay for technology you're trying your hardest not to use but are obligated to by policy. If I build a Flutter app for checking bus times, what am I paying Apple for? I'm already deliberately avoiding their badly documented frameworks. Apple don't own the buses, they don't own the internet, they should not be claiming ownership of the users phones.
- ben_w 3y agoAnd web apps. Even as an iOS dev myself, I can see there's a lot of apps out there that should've been websites.
- TylerE 3y agoThis comparison makes no sense. Unreal is a game engine. Apple is a platform. Are you expecting Apple to open an Android app store or something?
- kevingadd 3y agoThey charge royalties, not a per-install fee. If your app is free you wouldn't owe anything, unlike Apple's new system.
- TylerE 3y agoYou do not owe royalties to Apple unless your app is either A: non-free or B: on another store.
- kevingadd 3y agoThe install fee applies to free applications.
- TylerE 3y agoNo it doesn't. Not unless you opt into the new agreement, which a free app would have zero reason to do so, as the whole reason would be to pay reduced commission, which is irrelevant.
- pritambaral 3y ago> ... the whole reason would be to pay reduced commission Citation needed. I use F-Droid not because I want the devs of the apps I install from there to be free of the Google Play Tax. I use it so I can be free of Google Play.
- TylerE 3y agoWhat does that have to do with the iOS ecosystem?
- johnnyanmac 3y agoAn app that wants to be free fro the Google play ecosystem can do so without paying Google. An app that wants to be free from the App Store needs to pay Apple, or set up a company as a non-profit. You see the parallels and why "I-Droid" won't be a sustainable store?