Fortnite developer Epic Games will change the way it charges users of its creation tool Unreal Engine sometime next year, but that will only be for a subset of users, according to CEO Tim Sweeney.
Game developers using Unreal Engine will not be affected and will continue to pay licensing fees based on a royalty model. However, users in industries such as movies or automobiles will switch to per-seat pricing, meaning they will pay for their subscriptions the same way they pay for Photoshop.
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The news, announced by Sweeney at Epic Games' Unreal Carnival event this week, follows the company's massive layoffs in September. Sixteen percent of employees, or about 830 people, have lost their jobs, and Sweeney said in a note to employees that the company "is spending a lot more money than we are making." Epic also announced that it would sell Bandcamp, the independent music artist platform it acquired last year, and spin off SuperAwesome, a company focused on "kid-safe" digital experiences.
Less than a month before Epic announced it would change Unreal Engine pricing, Unity unveiled a disastrous new pricing model that charges developers a flat fee every time a Unity game is installed. After backlash from developers, the company went back on its word, announcing updates to the system and holding "fireside chats" to try to explain the failure.