Unreal Engine 4 Adopts Subscription Model.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXSoBkUwb0M

During a media briefing at the 2014 Game Developers Conference, Epic Games addressed the future of its studio. Epic's "crown jewel," Unreal Engine 4, will become available to anyone in the general public for $19 per month, Epic founder Tim Sweeney announced.

"This is the start of something new for Epic," Sweeney said. “With Unreal Engine 4 we’re looking to wipe the slate completely clean. Everyone who subscribed to the engine gets access to the complete C++ code.” Subscribers will be able to ship games on PC, Mac, iOS and Android with a payment of 5% of gross revenue. A new set of online forums, an online Q&A section, and video tutorials will become available for Epic users.

Unreal Engine 4 subscriptions are available starting today.

Epic made a basic first-person shooter demo that anyone can download and learn from. "The engine isn't just a shooter engine anymore," Sweeney said. "You're really not limited by what Epic provides at all."

Sweeney suspects UE4 would be a good entry point for “high end Minecraft players” looking to create something more ambitious on their own. “This is a tool, and engine, that can benefit absolutely everybody.”

Epic demonstrated the flexibility of its Unreal Engine 4 editor, which allows developers to modify in-game materials, physical properties, and other features for players quickly, efficiently, and in real-time. The Blueprint visual editor showcased during last year’s Infiltrator demo allows developers with minimal A.I.
experience to, say, create behaviors for characters.

Epic also showcased a Flappy Bird clone, created by an artist in two days using Blueprint and no code, to demonstrate the simplicity of its engine’s “games within games” capabilities using UE4’s visual tools.

Source IGN