GarageGames has announced that it has dramatically reworked its licensing schemes for commercial or independent developers who wish to use its Torque Game Engine. The Torque Game Engine is a 3D gaming technology that works on Mac OS X, Windows and Linux platforms. Now the cost to use the technology is considerably less than it was before for commercial developers, and independent developers no longer face publishing restrictions.
Created by developers working for Sierra’s Dynamix studio, the Torque Game Engine is the underpinning technology that drives the popular Vivendi/Universal titles Tribes 2 and Starsiege. It’s also been used to create Marble Blast, Orbz, ThinkTanks, and the forthcoming games GravRally and Dark Horizons: Lore.
GarageGames has always had a very liberal licensing policy: Originally independent developers could license the Torque Game Engine for $100, with the agreement that they’d publish their game through the GarageGames Web site and give the publisher the retail rights as well. The reworked “indie” license places no publishing channel restrictions on the developer — their games can be published by anyone, with no limit on the number of titles.
The indie license costs $100 per developer seat and is limited to the development of games only. GarageGames also requires independent publishers who opt for the indie license to have less than $250,000 in annual revenue, and games made under this license must feature the Torque Game Engine logo on their title screens.
A new license for commercial developers has also been announced. Originally, GarageGames licensed the Torque Game Engine to commercial game developers for $10,000 per title. Now, a full commercial license costs $495 per programmer seat. No publishing restrictions or royalty obligations have been imposed, either. What’s more, the full commercial license also allows developers to make any application they wish — 3D visualization products, architectural walkthroughs, simulations and more.