BuildBox is a code-less 3D game engine we reviewed back in 2020 after they changed their pricing to be more accessible to the masses. Today, they took a MASSIVE step backwards with some simply insane changes to their pricing. In short, they have changed their pricing to have a 70/30 ( and yes… the 30% is what the developer gets!) ON TOP of the existing subscription costs.
EDIT:
While certainly confusingly worded, it appears “Default” refers to the free tier. Plus subscribers only have to pay 30% revenue share and Pro only pay 10%. Let’s put this in perspective, they are charging Unity-esque per seat pricing AND 2.5x Unreal Engine’s royalty rate (which doesn’t kick in until you’ve made $1M). So the news is still awful, and the pricing is still brutal, just slightly less brutal.
New details of BuildBox pricing:
- As referenced on the Buildbox Pricing Page, the “Default” revenue share is 70% to Buildbox and 30% to you.
- The applicable revenue share for each of your games will be based on your subscription plan at the time that the applicable game receives 1000 ad impressions. At that point, the revenue share percentage for that game will be set and will not change if you upgrade your subscription plan. If you downgrade your subscription plan, the revenue share for the applicable subscription plan will apply to all your games.
- In a given calendar month, AppOnboard will not take its share of revenue until the monthly advertising revenue sharing threshold (the “Monthly Threshold”) listed on the Buildbox Pricing Page is reached in such month. As referenced on the Buildbox Pricing Page, the “Default” Monthly Threshold is US$5.00.
- For existing subscribers, the advertising revenue share arrangements for games published prior to May 17, 2021 shall remain the same. If you update or re-publish a previously published game, the revenue sharing terms set forth here will apply.
Keep in mind, this is on top of the $20/month subscription prices. This is a massive departure from their previous pricing (available here on WayBack machine).
To put it bluntly, this new pricing is terrible. This is one of the worst self inflicted wounds in the game engine market I have ever seen and I can’t fathom them not rolling back these changes if they want to stay viable. You can learn more in the video below.