Epic vows to never terminate dev licenses, even if terms are violated

[Legend]

Tech companies using termination of contracts as a way to exert control is one thing that really needs to change. At Epic, we recently changed our Unreal Engine license so that we can’t terminate it, even if a customer violates its terms. https://t.co/JEu4tvBCJu

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) August 28, 2021

[Legend]

If a licensee owes Epic money and refuses to pay, all we can do is go to court and ask the court to order them to pay. We can’t stop their teams from building products, stop stores from distributing their products, or disrupt their customer relationships.

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) August 28, 2021

[kitler53]

you can also stop responding to customer support calls.  really, that's the main thing that keeps my customers paying and honoring terms of service. 

we've had a few customers try to refuse their support contracts.  all have come back within a year or so and we require back payment to renew. 

oh, we also block access to upgrades.  

this is plenty enough power over customers to keep them honoring our agreements. 

I've seen a few breaches of contract in customer use but typically (and remember I'm engineering software) we applause them for their creativity and inquire into what problem they needed to solve that drove them to it.