I cant afford the pro version but my 3d game will be for mobile and I think at some point I will have to get the mobile versions. And since I cant afford 4.5k, I will have to get monthly versions at $225/mo. But to make the most of it and to not go broke, I was thinking of doing the following.

1. Start building game on free version.

2. Get pro 30-day trial and build some more.

3. Buy the pro and mobile versions for $225/month for two months and deploy to mobile.

4. If the game does well, buy full versions at 4.5k. If it doesnt, stop the monthly payment and downgrade to free version and back to the drawing board.

Is this possible? Can I cancel the monthly versions once the game has been deployed and doesnt do well and go back to the free version.

Sorry but the Unity3D subscription membership is for a minimum of 12 months.

damn it! thanks. And I take it that the 4.5k full version can be used for life without being renewed annually?

I have really not looked at Unity much, but the questions that come to my mind are:

1. Can the free version be used for commercial purposes?
2. If not 1., can existing unreleased closed source code be legally transferred to the commercial pro-version later?
3. Is there a free version for Android and iOS?
4. How much effort is needed to port between platforms? I know the "native" platform languages and API's are different, but I understand Unity abstracts all of that nearly entirely.
5. Assuming 4. is somewhat less than "you really need to be working on all platforms from the very begining", why can you not just develop on Windows on the Free or Pro version until pretty late in development (you have a mobile like OS in Windows 8 if you need that), then get the extra mobile licenses later?
6. can you not pick either iOS or Android, and only if you have a successful project consider porting to the other?
7. If either 1. or 2., is there actually any feature in the Pro version you really need thats worth that investment?
8. If 7. and 3., why would you ever need to get the pro version?

It certainly seems to me like you should be able to proceed by paying nothing now, later maybe getting just the core pro version, sometime later getting one mobile addon, and only getting the second mobile addon after you start having some income.

thx mate. The pro version is the real game engine. The free version can only be used to create very basic games. My game is going to be somewhat complex and 3D. I guess since 12 months is the min subscription period, I will have to find a way and juggle things around. Sure I always intended to get on one mobile platform first and then the other after a month but not longer cos i wanted the game to be available on both platforms cos many games dont do well if they are not available on say android. Its the whole marketing, publicity thing, cos when people review a game on say youtube, things like these can make your game fail pretty fast. I was hoping unity offered a royalty option like unreal's 5% on gross income, and I would even pay them 10% of future earnings. But said to say indie one-man devs like myself are out of luck unless they have a few ks lying around.

Unreal I am not familiar with much but even if I was, their forums are filled with complaints from mobile devs that its not ready for mobile yet. Their showcase game is a flappy bird clone. My game is comple and I have invested a lot of time into making my 3d models, texturing then, on animating them, etc and I was hoping for an engine that would make my life easier and not more complicated. I dont want to be sitting there dealing with basic things that should work on mobile and doesnt , when I should be spending that time making the game a beautiful experience. People on their forums have been saying that even after fully optimizing the game, something keeps breaking. Doesnt give one much confidence. I settled on unreal yesterday after asking people for advise here but seems its not made for mobile yet. Even the admins keep saying that in a few months time it should be competitive for mobile but atm its not going to do it for me it seems.

Well the question was more could you get to the working prototype stage on the free or only core pro versions. Since at that point you should have a pretty good idea if its worth proceeding, and possibly go out looking for more help/investment to turn it into a finished product. I see the free version is for example missing a bunch of graphics stuff, but for a prototype to see if the concept is fun or not you don't need AAA graphics, and even if you had the pro version, at that point may not have made the investment in art assets etc. to fully take advantage? I certainly cant see anything listed that suggests a good deal of 3D stuff requires pro.

I understand where you are coming from but I guess i was hoping for a better payment option from unity (like unreal). For example, even if you know the game is good after prototyping, you may not get the support from other sources. I am sure most would not have supported flappy bird. I just want to make my game without having 4k-5k and get it out there so people can decide whether its good or not (and pay unity their share). Every indie artist and dev needs that freedom.

I guess i will have to sit down and find a way out.

Well to go beyond suggesting you work with cheaper licenses or use a different product, the only way you have any chance of getting a cheaper license deal containing the things you want from Unity is to talk to Unity sales and try and strike a deal (such as a revenue share, or a deposit+loan scheme, etc.).

Well to go beyond suggesting you work with cheaper licenses or use a different product, the only way you have any chance of getting a cheaper license deal containing the things you want from Unity is to talk to Unity sales and try and strike a deal (such as a revenue share, or a deposit+loan scheme, etc.).

yeah i have emailed them this morning. Hoping they agree to a reduced monthly fee of around $50/month + 10% profit share. Hope they accept it. fingers crossed.