Pricing
Pay only when your game succeeds
The same model as Unreal Engine: the engine and its source are free. Once a single game has earned US$1 million in lifetime revenue, you pay 5% of its revenue above that.
Engine
Free
until a game earns US$1M
- Full engine source and prebuilt SDKs
- Every runtime feature and the dedicated server included
- No seat fees, no subscription, no required splash screen
- 5% royalty on a game's lifetime revenue above US$1,000,000
- Terms frozen for every engine version you receive
Hosted services
Coming later
optional, separate agreement
- Matchmaking and server hosting
- Crash reporting and telemetry
- Pixel streaming back ends
- Or point the engine at services you run yourself
What you would owe
Lifetime revenue of one game, and the total royalty on it.
Game earns
$250,000
Royalty
$0
Game earns
$1,000,000
Royalty
$0
Game earns
$2,000,000
Royalty
$50,000
Game earns
$10,000,000
Royalty
$450,000
Questions
How do I get the source?+
Sign in at motaengine.com/source with a free Motaware account, accept the MotaEngine License as yourself or for your company, and download the source and SDKs straight away.
Is MotaEngine open source?+
MotaEngine is source-available, the same model as Unreal Engine: the full source is available to anyone who accepts the MotaEngine License, and you can read, modify and ship it. It is not an OSI open-source license, because a royalty applies to commercially successful games.
When do I owe a royalty?+
Only after a single game has earned more than US$1,000,000 in lifetime gross revenue. From then on the royalty is 5% of that game's revenue above US$1,000,000. Each game is measured separately.
What counts as revenue?+
Worldwide gross revenue from the game: sales, in-app purchases, DLC, subscriptions, virtual currency, advertising and sponsorship, less refunds and sales taxes actually remitted.
How do I report and pay?+
Once a game passes the threshold, you file a quarterly revenue report from your motaengine.com account within 45 days after the quarter ends, and we invoice the royalty. There is no telemetry or phone-home in the engine.
Do I need to tell you when my game ships?+
Yes: within 30 days after a game is first released for sale or with any way to earn revenue, register it from your account. It takes two minutes, costs nothing, and gives us a contact for royalty matters. Free games that earn nothing are exempt.
Is anything always free?+
Yes. Learning, evaluation, education, research, game jams, internal tools and games that earn nothing never owe a royalty.
Can the terms change on me?+
No. The terms are frozen per engine version: an engine version you already have stays under the license you got it with.
Do I need Motaware's online services?+
No. Hosted services such as matchmaking, server hosting and crash reporting are separate, optional products. The engine's client code for them can point at services you run yourself.
This page summarises the license. The binding terms are in the MotaEngine License.