GameMaker announce their next-gen runtime GMRT will be free for commercial use

23 Oct 2026 at 9:31 am UTC | Last updated: 23 Oct 2026 at 9:32 am UTC
By Liam Squires-Hand

GameMaker continue advancing their new next-generation runtime for developers, and they've had a nice announcement today that will save devs some monies.

Not only will the source code be available to view for non-console platforms, but it will also now be "made free for commercial use" starting January 1st, 2027. Seems like a nice idea, and simplifies things for all types of developers making interesting stuff with GameMaker.

From the announcement:

The streamlined licensing model will enable developers to build and commercially distribute their games using GMRT without having to purchase a Professional license. In addition, they will have source code access across every tier.

Developers who currently own the Professional license will still be able to commercially distribute games made on the existing GMS2 runtime, and will additionally benefit from access to GMS2 runtime source code. Regardless of runtime, developers will still need an Enterprise license and to be an approved developer to be able to export to consoles. There will be no changes to existing tier pricing.

“From the very beginning, GameMaker has been committed to making game development more accessible and flexible for every creator out there,” said Russell Kay, Head of GameMaker. “As GMRT continues to roll out in beta across platforms, we are widening the scope of what we provide to developers. We are excited to see what the community comes up with as we embark on this fresh chapter for GameMaker.”

Currently, you have to get their paid Professional license to properly release games, so they're doing away with that to allow all users to fully release their games using the new GMRT.

Perhaps not a surprising change. They've got huge competition from other game engines letting developers sell their games and not paying anything until they hit a certain threshold like Unity and Unreal, and also from the likes of Godot which is fully open source with no royalties at all.

🌐 External Sources: gamemaker.io Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com. Tags: Game Dev, Game Engine, GameMaker, Misc, Source Available 5 Likes Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:Steam Frame CAD files released, plus an update on reservation waiting timesOCTOPATH TRAVELER and OCTOPATH TRAVELER II are coming to GOG in the Preservation ProgramHelldivers 2 switches over from GameGuard to Easy Anti-CheatDevil May Cry HD Collection will now work properly on SteamOS / Linux All posts need to follow our rules. Please hit the Report Flag icon on any post that breaks the rules or contains illegal / harmful content. Readers can also email us for any issues or concerns.