How much does it cost to make a game in Unreal Engine?

A small 3D PC game costs about $60,000 to $150,000, a mid-size PC or console game $150,000 to $500,000, and multiplayer shooters or large 3D games $500,000 or more.

Is Unreal Engine free?

Yes for game development. Epic charges a 5 percent royalty once a game passes $1,000,000 in lifetime gross revenue.

Why is Unreal development more expensive than Unity?

Teams choose Unreal for high-end visuals, which need more detailed art, specialist staff, powerful hardware and often console certification.

Can a game be made with Blueprints only?

Small games and prototypes can. Larger games usually move core systems to C++ for performance and maintainability.

Is Unreal good for mobile games?

It works for high-end mobile games, but for casual games and low-end phones Unity is usually lighter and cheaper.

Unreal Engine Game Development Cost in 2026

The short answer

Unreal Engine is free to use for games, and Epic charges a 5 percent royalty only after a game passes $1,000,000 in lifetime gross revenue. Production is the real cost: about $10,000 to $40,000 for a prototype or vertical slice, $60,000 to $150,000 for a small 3D PC game, $150,000 to $500,000 for a mid-size PC or console game, and $500,000 or more for multiplayer shooters and large 3D games.

Licence terms

Under Epic's standard licence, game developers pay nothing up front. The royalty applies per product once it passes the revenue threshold, and Epic publishes the full terms, including exceptions, on its licensing page. For a first game the licence cost is effectively zero. For a hit, the royalty is a real line in the budget and worth comparing with seat-based pricing, which we explain in Unity pricing 2026.

Budget bands

Project	Typical cost	Timeline
Prototype or vertical slice	$10,000 to $40,000	1 to 3 months
Small 3D PC game	$60,000 to $150,000	4 to 8 months
Mid-size PC or console game	$150,000 to $500,000	9 to 18 months
Multiplayer shooter or large 3D game	$500,000 and up	18 months or more
VR experience in Unreal	$60,000 to $400,000+	3 to 9 months

Why Unreal projects usually cost more

Art fidelity. Teams pick Unreal for realistic lighting and detailed worlds. High-detail characters and environments take longer to make, and art is typically the largest share of an Unreal budget.
Specialists. Technical artists, lighting artists and C++ engineers are harder to find and command higher rates. See hire an Unreal Engine developer.
Build size and hardware. Projects need powerful workstations, long build times and large storage for version control.
Console certification. Each console has technical requirements and a submission process that add testing time. See porting to new platforms.

Blueprints and C++

Unreal offers visual scripting through Blueprints and full programming in C++. Blueprints let designers build gameplay quickly and are excellent for prototypes. Large Blueprint-only projects become hard to maintain and slower at runtime. Most professional teams write core systems in C++ and expose them to Blueprints for designers. A prototype in Blueprints is cheap. Turning it into a shippable game usually means rewriting parts in C++, which should be planned in the budget.

What Unreal gives you that saves money

High-end rendering out of the box, including dynamic lighting and very detailed geometry on capable hardware.
A character and animation toolset that covers rigging, retargeting and facial animation.
Built-in multiplayer framework with replication and dedicated server support.
A large marketplace of environments, characters and plugins, now sold through Fab.
Free sample projects that show how complete games are structured.

Used well, these remove months of engine work a team would otherwise write.

Where the money goes

On a typical mid-size Unreal game:

Art and animation: 40 to 50 percent.
Programming: 25 to 35 percent.
Design: 10 to 15 percent.
QA and certification: 10 percent.
Audio and production: 5 to 10 percent.

Compare this with Unity mobile projects, where programming usually leads. See Unity game development cost.

Multiplayer in Unreal

Unreal's networking is proven in shooters, and it supports dedicated servers. That lowers engineering risk, but multiplayer still adds matchmaking, hosting, anti-cheat and live operations. Our multiplayer FPS packages start at $499 for an idea sprint, $2,499 for an online prototype and $7,999 for a store-ready MVP, and how much a multiplayer FPS costs explains full production budgets.

Unreal on mobile

Unreal can ship to phones, and high-end mobile games use it. For casual and mid-range devices it is often heavier than needed, with bigger downloads and more optimisation work. We cover the trade-offs in Unreal Engine on mobile and Unreal mobile monetization.

Engine upgrades

Epic has announced Unreal Engine 6. Starting a project today on the current version is still the practical choice, but plan time for at least one engine upgrade during a long production. Our article on Unreal Engine 6 summarises what is known.

How to lower the budget

Choose a stylised look. It costs less than realism and holds up longer.
Build a vertical slice before committing to full production.
Use marketplace environments for background areas and spend custom art on what players look at most.
Launch on PC first, then port to consoles with revenue or a publisher's help.
Keep multiplayer optional for the first release.

Getting a quote

Tell us the genre, platforms, target visual quality and whether the game is online. We quote Unreal projects as fixed milestones starting with a vertical slice. Entry packages are on the offer page.

Sources: Unreal Engine: licensing · Unreal Engine documentation · Fab marketplace. Checked November 11, 2026.

Unreal Engine game development cost: royalty, team and budget