We're fast approaching a time when the weirdly shiny Unreal Engine 3 will no longer be used in big-budget releases, and thanks to a new initiative by Epic Games, the same thing may soon be true of student games. Epic have announced that Unreal Engine 4 is now free to use in schools, colleges and universities, or at least those featuring the relevant courses or degrees. Your teacher or professor will need to sign up for the program here , but if your course qualifies, students will gain all the benefits of being subscribers without having to fork over a monthly subscription fee.

Here's Epic announcing the program:

"Starting now, Unreal Engine 4 is free to use for colleges and universities. The engine can be installed and used on all school owned computers, and personal copies can be provided free of charge to all students enrolled in accredited video game development, computer science, art, architecture, simulation, and visualization programs."

If students decide to make the jump to commercial development with games made while at school, college or university, they'll still need give Epic a 5% royalty, however. With that in mind, this still seems like a great opportunity to get hands-on experience with an engine being used by many professional game studios, so be sure to badger your teacher or professor if your course qualifies.

Ta, Blue's News .