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Poll – Would You Pay A Monthly Fee To Use GameMaker?

Sandy Duncan, CEO of YoYo Games, has said that he supports a monthly subscription model for use of the GameMaker software. Presumably, a subscription model would provide cheaper initial access to functionality that is already offered at set prices, such as exporting to platforms like iOS, Android, and HTML5.

We’ve included a poll to measure community support for the idea. Cast your vote below!

subscription-model

If you already own the Master Collection or all of the export modules that you’re interested in, please vote as if you had the option to pay for a subscription prior to buying them.

Consider sharing this post on social media to help us get better results. Don’t forget to leave a comment explaining your vote too!

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What do you think?

36 Comments

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  1. No. I bought the Studio Pro with Android module to create good 2D games fast; that’s all I need and I refuse to continue to pay for something I already purchased. I already have Unreal Engine 4 which is WAY more powerful and can do anything and some that Game Maker can do on any module Game Maker can do it without even twitching.

    UE4 is monthly, but you can keep that current update in full (No limits) AND continue to use ALL of it if you cancel subscription to it which includes even selling anything you create whether (here’s a big one) you have internet or not. YoYoGames is the type of company that will make you pay per month JUST to USE their software, much less keep using it after subscription is cancelled (They already require an internet connection monthly which is sad).

    If they keep limiting our access to this software (That we paid for), me and everyone on my team will drop it like a lead brick and use Unreal Engine 4 100%. Anyone asking what software we use will be dissuaded from even considering it.

    It is great for simple 2D creations, but not even remotely CLOSE to being “Subscription Ready”.

  2. No, I hate subscription model, if yoyogames ever wanted to do subscription, then I hope they give us choice to buy or rent, like autodesk did on skecthbook pro.

  3. Actually one other thing. access to all export modules all features and maximum monthly price before any discounts $30 a monthotherwise it’s just not worth it games depending on what you’re making can take years to produce and if I’m paying a hundred a month that just adds the amount of money I have to spend to make a game. in fact actually after reading this I’ve decided on No I paid 500 bucks for what I needed and now I can use it. No.

  4. The reason i choose GM its cause it has NO monthy fees, i have the professional version and i now many developers choose GM for the same reason. Don’t ruin your popularity with this things.

    GM is awesome the way it is.

  5. Lets be honest, if Yoyo Games decides to go subscription then you better be going to something like a $5 a month model. Right now CryEngine and Unreal 4 are now 10 and 19 dollars a month respectively. I’d like to repeat… two of the main AAA engines are now peanuts in comparison. That’s $120 and $228 dollars for two of the most POWERFUL game engines on the planet with one edition, one with all the goodie features and export options completely unlocked. None of this BS about having to buy new export options or paying premium for a compiler that doesn’t run like molasses moving down hill in December. GameMaker needs to adapt. So does Unity for that matter, because the Development Ecosystem has CHANGED.

    • That’s a very short term plan. If any of your games need a patch, or if you want to develop and most importantly test on the other platforms you can’t really do this.

  6. After spending $880 AUD on the master collection I would be very dissapointed to be pushed onto a subscription plan.
    I believe YoYo should offer free use of 2.0 for a certain timeframe for all existing Master Collection owners and maybe even a smaller timeframe for pro users

  7. The subscription model is like the payday loans of the dev tool world. It works for only 2 types of people…

    1) those students or other (possibly younger/jobless) developers who would have to wait too long to save up for the full version. The low cost allows them to get started right away and not wait. This however means that they may likely end up paying MORE than they would if they had it all the cash on hand upfront in the first place. It’s a trade off to get the access they couldn’t any other way and that’s cool, but that leads us to the others who benefit…
    2) The tool developers. They get customers who would not be customers otherwise and if they luck out those that subscribe will become subscribers longer than it would have taken to buy their tools and modules if they had all the cash on hand and did it all at once.

    Again this is the trade off that may be worth it, but only if you are under these two categories. I’m not one of them and I bought the Master Collection because I loved the tools, so I would not care for subscription service as I like to own (at least a copy of) that which I buy and not have to repeatedly re-license something over and over again because I’m just technically borrowing it in this model. This is not how I like to develop my projects.

  8. Voted No.

    I’ve bought 2 Pro licenses, and if I need another or the yy compiler I will buy those too.

    Other than that the whole idea begs the obvious question. Why not have both?

    Pros (those making games for sale) would probably like a subscription that gave them access to all the extensions and yoyo compiler at a reasonable monthly cost.

    Hobbyists (like myself) appreciate the option to just purchase out right.

    I can say that if Gamemaker had only been available via subscription model to begin with I would have never started using it.

    Right now the product is at a price point where the hobbyist can get into it with a modest investment.

    After all the VAST majority of purchasers will never produce a game worth selling, having GMS available exclusively via subscription would probably kill the product as a hobbyist dev tool.

  9. I don’t see the point. Gamemaker’s no Creative Cloud. Creative cloud’s only $30 a month, I couldn’t imagine paying as much for Gamemaker, even the Master collection with YYCompiler, and I doubt they’d go much cheaper.

  10. I already purchased my modules that I wanted plus the pro version. No need for a subscription for me now.

  11. I now realized why they completely made v1.3.1344 disappear in exchange for 1.3.1347, so you can’t have the first stable 1.3 release having mac and windows store exports in it for free!!!!!!!!! hahahaha they grabbed it and took it back from people, v1.3.1344 is no longer around. Unbelievable company.

  12. So Yoyogames officially stuped low since they already have my money.

    Their website now says master collection to buy “Includes all current & future modules in version 1.x”.

    A new update just came out 1.3.1347, where they actually replaced the official release of 1.3.1344 and made it disappear with this one so they can get their free standard edition in, they took out mac exports and selling them now along with windows store exports not included either and a splash screen punishment, hmmm sounds more and more like riding the tail of Unity to me. And yes a lifetime license is no longer on their website for master collection and they got my money when they had it up, now they’ve replaced that. This is how this company operates.

  13. IMO, GMStudio is worth a lot more than $700 to a ‘real’ company. That’s where the problem lies. If you’re making $100,000 profit a year off your games then $1000/year sounds fair..BUT if you’re an indie making $400/year or less(hobby) then $10/month sounds fair.

    I would go with what other products have done….simply monthly plans (discounted if paid year in advance), tiered based on company revenue….

    BTW: what stops you from using a free-version for windows to complete game, buy a month of Studio subscription to publish to app store that month, and then cancel subscription….then go back to free windows version….

  14. It really depends on how the subscription works.

    If I don’t do any game dev this month, am I still paying? Yes? Then no thanks.
    If I don’t use certain features that they charge extra for (such as build targets), do I still pay for them? Yes? Then no thanks.
    If YYG goes out of business, and I can no longer pay anyone for a subscription because there is no one to pay, does the software stop working? Yes? Then no thanks.

  15. Oh dear, this ticks me off.

    I would most certainly not pay a monthly fee. I want to pay once, and only once. A subscription model builds stress as I constantly have to mind releasing commercially viable things fast or fees will rack up. Paying “little” with a subscription is a far greater commitment for me, and one less likely for me to take, than paying a large sum up front as the latter is fire and forget. I have what I have without having to care for a slow and constant trickle of money… all… the…. time…….

    No, no, no. Don’t mess something wonderful up just because you can.

    That said, a seemingly “cheap” subscription model would probably be awesome for Yoyo Games. The question is whether Yoyo has the morals to stay away from that route.

    If there was a choice, then sure. Let suckers bite, but let me make stable investments if I want to.

  16. NO WAY!!!!

    I paid for Master Collection, and website said “Lifetime License”!!! Master collection holders should not ever pay again. It did not say “Gamemaker Studio 1.x Lifetime License”, it said “Gamemaker Studio Lifetime License”, so if they make Master License holders pay again, that’s dirty sales tactics.

    Yoyogames is just looking at what Unity and Unreal Engine are doing and trying to go in their footsteps to grab a SAS market, but their not up to caliber to them. Gamemaker is for a different type of a market.

    And Gamemaker still isn’t up to par yet for a development tool, case in point:

    1) Application Surface doesn’t work on certain android devices and iPhone 4.. Huge markets and no aspect ratio like we waited for. They call it a feature and it’s been August of 2013 for version 1.2 and May 2014 for version 1.3.
    2) so long between versions, a SAS isn’t right anyway, and it would have to be a dirt cheap one in comparison to AAA quality engines out there.
    3) Source control. NOT!! Yoyogames.com website states under collaboration that GIT works, even showing an integration picture. GIT was on the 1.3 roadmap, and OHHHhh it dropped off the roadmap, yet their website says it works, let alone SVN doesn’t work. So no source control and their not doing anything about it… Ya that deserves a subscription…
    4) In August 2013, Sandy said “A New IDE”, well that’s going to obviously be a 2.0 $$$$$$ Feature now.

    I bought Gamemaker Studio master collection lifetime license. not a 1.x lifetime, especially if I knew 1.x isn’t even getting production quality software, such as aspect ratio across the board truly, source control?? Unbelievable they want to make people in this market pay more money without making GameMaker Studio production quality. That was almost 10 months between versions and I’m not impressed with Yoyogames thinking about a 2.0 and how to make money, what about 1.4/1.5 1.9??

    Please everyone reply to this, Microsoft Xbox tried putting in a lot of policy crap that they took back because of people pushing back. It’s time to push Yoyogames back and tell them to give us a true production quality product!!!!

  17. If game maker does this I’m out… I already feel that they’re ridiculously overpriced and a little greedy so if it comes down to subscriptions then that means it’s time for me to start learning a real programming language more thoroughly.

  18. Heck no! I know that if YYG decided to make studio subscription only I would bail. But if they said that you have an option, would you rather pay $XX.XX per month or out right purchase the product for $799.99 for master $99.99 for pro (+ Extra for modules) or $49.99 for standard that would be fine. Just don’t move to subscription only. Personally I think that if you offer both people are more likely to use your product because you give them options.

  19. It seems to be wrong bussines model. Game Maker makes inexperienced people full of expectations, but doesn’t fulfill their dreams in most cases. Any kind of temporary licencing will shorten YYG income and make any progress of Game Maker really difficult. I think that better opportunity should be enhancing GM by tools and cheap resource packs. Internal tools and editors in GM are barely good enough for incompetent beginners, but if you want to make something unusual, you need superb tools. Portfolio relatively small and specialized editors exporting ready made usable things could boost productivity of existing users and earn more money to everybody. That’s my opinion, so I voted no.

  20. I voted yes on the assumption that subscriptions would be in addition to the up-front payment model, rather than outright replacing it. At a price of around $10 a month, that would take about 7 years to match the up-front cost of the Master Collection, not to mention any upgrade pricing for future editions of GM. For people who are going to use those exports, it could definitely be worthwhile.

    On the other hand, I am a little wary of the trend toward subscription licenses, since it does become a bit like renting an apartment versus buying a house. You aren’t building any equity, and if.you stop paying, you’re out on the street.

    Not to mention there’s no indication of what the pricing would actually be. Cryengine is about $10/month, but Unreal is $19/month plus a 5% royalty, and Unity is $75/month plus $75/month per export module (with Unity Pro at least).

    I’ve already bought my Master license, so the conversation doesn’t really affect me much, but those are my two cents.

  21. Since I already own the Master Collection, I voted no. But if this poll has even one person who’d go the subscription route, you should make it available. Just make sure people have a choice to go either way.

  22. No. I generally don’t like monthly fees. especially not for software. I’d rather save 400$ and pay once than pay a smaller amount every month. It could be optional, though – so you could choose between a pay-once and a subscription model.

  23. No way! I like that gm has no monthly fee .if I buy something I want to own it not rent it. I hate what adobe have done with monthly fees and I thought monthly fees for construct2 was stupid and thought thats one more thing I like about yoyogames it has no monyhly fee junk. I understand how it can help some people but it should be a choice.

  24. No.
    Even prices like 15 usd/ month can be high since not everyone has USD as default currency. I’ve saved a lot of money to buy Pro and Modules. But I like to know they are mine now.

  25. No, I bought the module I was interested in. I saved my money, and bought it. I know a lot of kids will say that’s impossible, but the truth is they don’t know how to save money. If they see something they want, and have the money, they usually buy that instead of saving for a more expensive want.
    I know that sounds a bit harsh, but the current model is perfect for the software.

    I would support this as an option, but not as the only way to use GM. I also know that Sandy never said they were kicking the old method, and that my comments are voiced against the idea that may happen. Otherwise, if it’s added to the current billing scheme, I support it, that could be cool.

  26. I would pay monthly… BUT only under 15$ per month for longtime update + all export (like Master Collection) otherwise I hate subscriptions.

    CryEngine cost monthly 10$, so lets see. 🙂

    The problem about these subscriptions is, there are already to much subscription. Photoshop Cloud, CryEngine/Unreal etc. And when it grows so on, then you must pay all monthly 100$ or more, this is not great…

  27. That would be crossing the line for me. I’d just learn something better at that point. The point of GameMaker is it’s cheap and easy. If it became expensive and easy, I’d rather go with free and hard.

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