Whilst the free version of GameMaker gives you the ability to try out GameMaker and make projects to get used to how everything works, if you want to share these projects with other people, or perhaps even sell them on the various games stores, you will need to subscribe to unlock the full potential of GameMaker.
The available subscriptions are:
- Creator (Gx.Games, Windows, macOS, Ubuntu)
- Indie (Gx.Games, Windows, macOS, Ubuntu, HTML5, Android, iOS, tvOS, UWP)
- Entreprise (Gx.Games, Windows, macOS, Ubuntu, HTML5, Android, iOS, tvOS, UWP, Xbox, Playstation, Switch)
For a lot more info on each of these above subscription, please see this FAQ about which subscription is right for you.
Purchasing A New Subscription
To purchase any of the above subscriptions you must first go to the YoYo Games website and sign into your account.
Once in your account you will see on the Subscription card, a button to 'Change Tier', by clicking on this button, you can select your Subscription tier and length (Monthly or Yearly). Clicking 'Buy' on any of these will take you to our Payment Processor to complete the purchase.
Once payment has been completed, your Account Overview should have updated to show your new Subscription Tier.
Please note, there will be a small delay as your Subscription is created and so if you returned to the page very quickly you may need to refresh the page one time.
Installing/Updating GameMaker With Your New Purchase
If you have not already installed GameMaker, you can get the installer now by going to the Download section of your account dashboard and selecting the installer that you require for your computer.
The next time you launch GameMaker, it will then automatically download and install the additional GameMaker components required for building projects for your newly-purchased licences.
If you do have any issues with this automatic process, please see this FAQ about how to refresh your GameMaker Subscription.
Ensuring You Have The Required External Tools and Permissions
However, it is very important that you now also see this FAQ about what third-party tools and SDKs the version of GameMaker you are using requires in order to support these new targets, as whilst your GameMakerinstallation is now complete you may not have everything that you actually require in order to develop for your new platform of choice.
You should also check this guide before installing any external tools, as versions too-new for GameMaker are just as likely to cause problems when building your projects as versions which are too old.
Similarly, if you know your computer has antivirus and/or firewall software running, or if your machine user account has restricted privileges, you should also review this FAQ about GameMaker's required internet access and user permissions.
But, once this is all done you will be ready to use your new purchase.