Unreal Engine is a complete suite of creation tools for game development, architectural and automotive visualization, linear film and television content creation, broadcast and live event production, training and simulation, and other real-time applications.
Unreal Engine is free to download, and comes fully loaded and production-ready out of the box, with every feature and full source code access included.
Under the standard EULA, Unreal Engine is free to use for learning, and for developing internal projects; it also enables you to distribute many commercial projects without paying any fees to Epic Games, including custom projects delivered to clients, linear content (such as films and television shows) and any product that earns no revenue or whose revenue falls below the royalty threshold.
A 5% royalty is due only if you are distributing an off-the-shelf product that incorporates Unreal Engine code (such as a game) and the lifetime gross revenue from that product exceeds $1 million USD; in this case, the first $1 million remains royalty-exempt.
Get Unreal Engine here, and access all engine features, the full suite of integrated tools, and the C++ source code for the entire engine. You’ll find documentation, tutorials, and support resources, plus tons of free content, including templates, samples, and complete projects to quickly get you on your way to building anything you want!
Epic regularly releases new versions which include updates, improved features, community contributions, and bug fixes. We also share live changes to source code through GitHub.
The Unreal Engine End User License Agreement is the legal document that governs your use of the Unreal Engine and describes your rights and obligations with respect to the projects you create using the engine.
This license is free to use for learning, and for developing internal projects; it also enables you to distribute many commercial projects without paying any fees to Epic Games, including custom projects delivered to clients, linear content (such as films and television shows) and any product that earns no revenue or whose revenue falls below the royalty threshold.
A 5% royalty is due only if you are distributing an off-the-shelf product that incorporates Unreal Engine code (such as a game) and the lifetime gross revenue from that product exceeds $1 million USD; in this case, the first $1 million remains royalty-exempt. You can find out more about royalties in the Releasing products section of this FAQ.
Download the EULA as a PDF here.
The official version of the EULA is in English only, but we currently have a Japanese language EULA, a Korean language EULA, and a Chinese language EULA available for reference purposes.
(エンドユーザーライセンス契約書の正式な原本は英語版となりますが、参考として日本語参考訳EULA、韓国語参考訳EULA、中国語参考訳EULA、をご用意しております。)
EULA 공식 버전은 영어만 인정되나, 현재 참고용으로 일본어 EULA, 한국어 EULA, 중국어 EULA가 제공되고 있습니다.
View the Support page for the most comprehensive information regarding how you can get help and information for development with the Unreal Engine.
If you're a custom licensee (meaning you have an Unreal Engine license agreement with Epic other than the standard Unreal Engine EULA), you should ask your questions at the Unreal Developer Network (login required).
Epic welcomes your feedback and code or other content submissions. If you send code and/or content to us, you need to have all the necessary rights to send it to us. However you send it, we will own it, and can (but don't have to) use it in the engine. Regardless of whether we use it, you can still use it (as long as it is in a way allowed by the EULA).
At any given time you are welcome to see our development roadmap and vote on the features you’re most interested in seeing next!
You can release any product that is allowed by law. You can release games, demos, VR projects, architectural showcases, trailers, films, and more.
The only parts of the Unreal Engine you can’t release to the general public are the source code and tools or modifications to them; these components may only be distributed to other licensees with access to the same version of the Unreal Engine.
Read the Unreal Engine EULA for full details.
Under the terms of the standard Unreal Engine EULA, you are generally obligated to pay to Epic 5% of gross revenue on your product after it generates $1 million USD in gross revenue, regardless of what company collects the revenue. The 5% royalty is calculated on the amount over and above the first $1 million in gross revenue.
Royalty payments are due 45 days after the close of each calendar quarter. Along with the payment, you must send a royalty report on a per-product basis. For more information, see our Release page.
In addition to the standard Unreal Engine EULA, we also offer custom licenses that can include negotiated terms for lower royalties, no royalties, or a different basis for royalty calculation.
Our aim is to provide powerful tools, a scalable and productive workflow, advanced features, and millions of lines of C++ source code that enable developers to achieve more than they would otherwise be able to, so that this structure works to everyone’s benefit.
In this business model, Epic succeeds only when developers succeed using Unreal Engine. Many of the industry’s leading developers and publishers have signed up to license Unreal Engine with royalty-based terms over the years, and now this level of access is open to everyone. And, don't forget, we continue to offer custom terms.
Yes, and we have designed the Unreal Editor and launcher to accommodate this. We aim to build a unified development and modding community. Here is how this works: You’re free to release your game through any distribution channels of your choosing, however the Unreal Editor (including modified versions) and code may only be distributed through official Epic channels (e.g. the Epic Games launcher for binaries, and GitHub for source), to users who have accepted the EULA.
You’re free to release Unreal Engine products through a publisher or distributor, and the EULA gives you the right to sublicense the necessary parts of Unreal Engine to them so they can release your product.
When negotiating terms with publishers, please keep in mind that the royalty remains 5% of the product's gross revenue after generating $1 million USD. In this scenario, feel free to refer your publisher to Epic during discussions, as it may be advantageous to all if the publisher obtains a custom-negotiated, multi-product Unreal Engine license covering your product.
Royalties are due on revenue from Kickstarter or other crowdfunding sources when the revenue is actually attributable to your product. For example, if the user is required to purchase a particular funding package to obtain access (now or later) to your product, or if that package gives the buyer benefits within the product such as in-game items or virtual currency.
Here’s an example of what we mean by “attributable”: Assume you provide two tiers of offers, a signed poster for $20, and a signed poster plus game access for $50. No royalties are due on ancillary products like posters, so no royalty is due on the $20 tier. On the $50 tier, the user is paying for the poster with a $20 value, and that implies that the remaining $30 of value is attributable to the product. So, for each $50 tier sale, you’d pay a royalty of $1.50 (5% of $30).
Yes! The following revenue sources are royalty-free:
You can extend it, modify it, fork it, or integrate it with other software or libraries, with one exception: You can’t combine the Unreal Engine code with code covered by a “Copyleft” license agreement which would directly or indirectly require the Unreal Engine to be governed by terms other than the EULA.
Epic Games has committed to providing financial grants to creative, noteworthy, and innovative projects built in and around Unreal Engine or projects that enhance the open source 3D graphics ecosystem.
Our average grants range from $5,000 to $250,000, with some extraordinary projects receiving up to $500,000! Projects selected cover a variety of endeavors from game development, architecture projects, and film production, to educational uses and software tool development. No matter what size grant you receive, you will continue to own your IP and will be free to publish it however you wish.
We’re looking to support anyone doing amazing things with Unreal Engine or for the 3D graphics ecosystem. To ensure that Epic MegaGrants delivers the most value to the community, here are a few considerations: