Billed as a gesture of goodwill, Epic Games has decided to amend its royalty system for developers using its Unreal Engine.

Studios utilising the engine's development kit (UDK) for free previously had to pay the company 25 percent of net revenues should any game developed reach $5,000 in sales.

However, said barrier is now being raised to $50,000, with VP Mark Rein commenting that Epic is keen to ensure smaller, independent studios - particularly prevalent on mobile devices - have access to the engine.

Getting indies on board

"We realise that a lot of you are just started in the business so not having to pay royalties on your first $50,000 should help you get a financial footing toward building a quality game development business," Rein commented via the firm's forums.

Epic already allowed those intending to use the UDK for either educational or non-commercial purposes to license the engine without charge, with developers having to pay a flat fee of $99 should they release the resulting title commercially.

The raising of the revenue barrier, however, will inevitably boost Epic's business in the longterm.

Smaller studios will be more likely to continue to license the technology as they grow. The engine will also benefit when it comes to sheer visibility, with Epic's middleware likely to be employed across a range of different releases for both different budgets and genres.

[source: GamesIndustry.biz]