GameMaker’s Radical Pricing Update Will Transform Indie Game Development

Today, GameMaker announced a massive change to the pricing for its game development engine that will make it far more accessible to indie game developers and hobbyists. It’ll also allow anyone creating a game with the engine to make their title profitable sooner.

Starting today, anyone can pick up and use the non-commercial version of GameMaker for free. Any developer looking to take their game to the next level and sell it can do so for a one-time fee, flying in the face of every subscription-based game engine, including its past pricing structure. It’s a move that will make game development even more accessible and could help someone build the next big indie hit.

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GameMaker’s New Pricing Structure Opens the Platform up to All Budding Game Development Hobbyists

GameMaker announced the new pricing model today via its social media accounts. It makes the non-commercial version of the game engine free for anyone to use on non-console devices. If a user wants to move forward and sell their game, they can do so for a one-time fee, without a subscription as some other platforms require.

The one-time fee users must pay if they want to export their game for commercial use is cheaper than GameMaker’s pricing prior to its subscription model. Overall, it makes indie and hobby game development far more affordable. It removes one more initial blocker to getting into game development that puts so many people off.

The announcement seems to have pleased all game developers, whether they use the platform or not. Some have even come out to apologize for ripping the company off. “GameMaker I’m sorry for pirating your product.” The company seems to purely want game development to be more accessible regardless of the cost. “Thanks I love u!”

The news dredges up memories of Unity’s attempt to squeeze money out of developers who were already heavily invested in its platform earlier this year. GameMaker has directly addressed this, explaining that it gave the team food for thought and how they only want their game development platform to be positive for everyone involved.

Some incredible titles have been built using GameMaker, including Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Hotline Miami, and Toodee and Topdee. Now it’s even more approachable, bigger and better indie games could finally have their chance as the people behind them get the tools they need without being forced to put money down first.