Russian games on a foreign engine are getting easier access to the Russian software registry
[ad_1]
Russian developers of video games created using foreign engines Unity and Unreal Engine can apply for inclusion of their developments in the register of domestic software – at least until a Russian analogue appears in it, follows from the recommendations of the expert council under the Ministry of Digital Development. Thus, game studios received an exclusive procedure for including products in the registry. But it will operate on the condition that the foreign engines used do not provide for licensing fees. Free use of Unity and Unreal Engine is only possible for small and private projects, and in the case of the latter we are talking only about limited benefits.
The Software Expert Council under the Ministry of Digital Development, which considers applications from companies to include their software in the Russian software register, proposed including video games developed using foreign game development tools (engines) in the register. This was stated in the minutes of the meeting dated October 6, published by the ministry. As a general rule, developments included in the register should not use third-party components, the distribution of which is limited in Russia.
It follows from the document that the “temporary order” was proposed by the ministry itself. Council members are recommended to include in the registry games created on foreign engines only if there are no licensing fees for their use and only until “fully functional domestic analogues” of Unreal Engine (developed by Epic Games), Unity and other gaming engines appear in the registry full cycle engines (includes complete development tools).
The Ministry of Digital Development confirmed to Kommersant that they sent such a proposal to the expert council, since the ministry received “many requests” regarding the inclusion of games based on Unity and Unreal Engine in the register. Their “full-featured analogue,” according to the Ministry of Digital Development, is intended to be Nau Engine, which is currently being developed by VK. The Nau Engine press service did not answer the question of whether they intend to apply for inclusion in the Russian software register in the future.
The Russian software registry already includes the Unigine game engine; Unigine LLC is listed as the Russian copyright holder in the registry. But Unigine cannot be called a direct analogue of Unity and Unreal Engine, says Vasily Ovchinnikov, head of the Video Game Industry Development Organization: “This is a good tool for creating simulators, trainers and similar programs. But you can’t use it to make a mobile game or projects that are feasible for small development teams.”
The inclusion of games in the register of domestic software gives the right to exemption from VAT and their developers “will be more profitable to make new games and publish existing ones,” said Polina Ronzhina, development director of the Lesta Games group of companies (games “World of Tanks”, “World of Ships”).
The developers of the game engines mentioned by the Ministry of Digital Development (Unity Technologies and Epic Games) allow their use without licensing fees, but only on a limited scale. The free Unity plan is intended for personal use and does not allow you to create games for consoles and disable the display of the Unity logo when starting the game. Free use of Unreal Engine does not, in principle, involve the creation of games or other public software; With this order of use, it can only be used for training, creating linear content (films and animation) or custom software development.
Mensa Games co-founder Vladimir Varenik believes that the relaxation is still relevant for game developers on Unity and Unreal Engine, since they have stopped accepting payments from Russia: “Even if we assume that the sale of licenses is possible, you can apply to include the game in the register It’s still at the stage of its development, and no payments are provided yet.”
The developers of almost all successful video games one way or another pay a license for using the engine, says the founder of Vengeance Games, a teacher at the Higher School of Economics and the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Konstantin Sakhnov: “A number of Russian developers have their own engines, but these are isolated cases.” At the current stage, in his opinion, it would be logical to select games for the registry “regardless of the engine used.”
For development trends in the Russian gaming market, see “Common offer
»
[ad_2]
Source link
