I've been totally into Unity until now, but I'm going to take the leap.

What sold it for me is:

-There is no unique scripting language anymore, it's all C++.

-It does 2D and has example projects for many different game types.

-While Unity can look pretty good (mostly if you buy the expensive pro version). This is going to look pretty much as good as you can get with no features hidden behind paywalls.

-Being comfortable with how this works is likely to be very useful for future employment options (though hopefully I'll never have to leave my current job).

-I love the idea that I can cancel my subscription now and still have this amazing code base to learn from and play around with forever.

Note that it is $20 per user per month. So if you have 5 developers on your team and it takes a year to build the game, that is $1200 you just paid in development tools, plus 5% of your gross revenue.

The engine is certainly good, just be aware that if you are counting your money in a startup, the fees to use it can multiply quickly. If you do the math and it works out for you, wonderful. If you do the math and it doesn't work for you, there are alternatives. Either way, if you are considering Unreal for your game engine be sure you do all the math when picking a license.

$1200 is the tip of the iceberg when licensing software. Let's face it, the cost of Max / Maya is astronomical in comparison. Creative Cloud will also cost you.

Just with everything there are cheaper or free alternatives, but they are not the same.

Where I am, two beers can cost $19, so I'm hardly worried, haha.

I had a look. The mobile part of it doesn't look too good. Basically, you can't even get dynamic shadows for iPad2 device.

I had a look. The mobile part of it doesn't look too good. Basically, you can't even get dynamic shadows for iPad2 device.

However, this is the very first release, aimed at early adopters. It's powerful, but not very polished, and it requires a beefy desktop computer. Rough areas include:

The 'rough areas' include both iOS and Android support.