Unity Engine ditches licensing fees for Android and iOS

The Unity Engine is quite popular among indie game developers because of its ease of use, and now, the engine will be even more accessible. According to PocketGamer, Unity CEO David Helgason has announced that the engine will be free to game developers on iOS and Android.

According to the company, the decision was made in an attempt to push the “democratisation of game development further than ever before.” Earlier, licensing the engine for game development on Android or iOS would cost $800 (approximately Rs 44,376), but it has now been made completely free.

More games like the brilliant Organ Trail will probably pop up on iOS and Android

This, of course, is a great move for game developers, especially because of the popularity of the game engine. A wide variety of different games have been made with the engine, ranging from DOS-styled management games like Organ Trail: Director’s Cut to turn-based RPG Knights of Pen & Paper and even full-fledged 3D games like Surgeon Simulator 2013.

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“We were able to make Unity free for the web and for desktop computers a while ago, but have been dreaming of doing the same for mobile for what seems like forever,” said CEO David Helgason. “Mobile games development is possibly the most dynamic and exciting industry in the world, and it’s an honour to be able to help so many developers be so successful in fulfilling their visions and in building their businesses.”

While the engine is only free for iOS and Android at the moment, the company has hinted that it might make the same move for other mobile platforms, including Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry 10.