GameMaker developers shut down publishing division and lower mobile license fee

YoYo Games, the studio that created the GameMaker Studio game engine, has closed its publishing business.

Hyper Light Drifter, developed by Heart Machine using GameMaker Studio

The publishing initative for developers using GameMaker went live in May 2018. Since then, it has reportedly gained some recognition with the community. However, YoYo Games decided to close it.

“It’s become clear over the year that this isn’t where we can add the most value, and that our organisational capability to deliver in this area diverts resources from where they are most needed, and we aren’t in a position to offer significantly more than other publishers in this regard.”

YoYo Games general manager Stuart Poole, via PocketGamer.biz

Former Outplay Entertainment senior producer Chris Trewartha, who was in charge of the publishing activities, has left the company.

The studio has also reduced the price of the mobile license for their game engine by half. The permanent access will now cost users a one-off $199 fee. In another change, the free trial of GameMaker Studio 2 will now include all the engine’s features. However, the free trial period will only last 30 days.

The studio expects this latter move to incentivize more of the 1,500 users signing up each day to purchase a license.