Clip Studio Paint licensing

Clip Studio Paint switched from a perpetual license to mainly a subscription/annual model. They had given users with a perpetual license free feature updates, but stopped after changes to the business model. When the original perpetual licenses sold, there was no indication that future versions would not be included. After the license changes, users needed to buy a yearly upgrade or subscribe to an annual update plan, to get feature updates.

Background[edit | edit source]

Clip studio paint is a painting software by Celsys. Initially the software was only sold with a perpetual license. Eventually they also added a monthly plan while delivering free updates to their customers with a perpetual license. There was no indication of future versions not being included with the perpetual license.^[1] The software has been in that state for 10 years and it was commonly recommended as an affordable option due to the attractive one time payment.

2.0[edit | edit source]

In August of 2022, Celsys announced they would be releasing clip studio paint version 2.0 in 2023. With this, came many controversial changes to their licensing. They announced they would no longer provide free feature updates for holders of a perpetual license from 2023 onward. An annual update pass was offered to license holders to upgrade to the newer version. Stability updates were offered only until the release of version 3.0. They stated that you would be able to use version 1.0 forever provided it continues to works on your device.^[2]

Consumer backlash and response[edit | edit source]

These changes to the august announcement were very controversial in the creative community and there was a lot of public backlash towards the company.^[3]^[4]

In response, the company revisited some of the changes in October.^[2]

They offered people that had bought the perpetual license in the year 2022 a free upgrade to 2.0(but not subsequent versions) and offered customers before then, upgrades to 2.0 for a reduced price. Additionally they extended their stability updates past the release of version 3.0, and introduced a free testing program for students and applicable people unable to afford version 2.0.

2.0 was released March 2023^[5]

Future versions[edit | edit source]

Since the release of version 2.0, it is stated in multiple places when buying a perpetual license that only the current version is included.^[6] Version 3.0 was released March 2024, and version 4.0 is planned to release in March 2025. There are reduced price version upgrades and annual update passes. Shortly a new version releases, new buyers of the perpetual license would get an upgrade for the new version included in their purchase. They now provide a support timeline for stability support of older versions. Version 2.x is supported until the release of 4.0.^[7]

References[edit | edit source]

[1] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20180502161237/http://www.clipstudio.net/en/purchase

[:0-2] {Jump up to: 2.0} ^2.1 https://www.clipstudio.net/en/news/202208/22_01/

[3] ttps://www.theverge.com/2022/8/22/23316413/clip-studio-paint-subscription-plan-angry-artists-digital-illustration

[4] ttps://www.creativebloq.com/news/clip-studio-paint-subscription

[5] ttps://www.clipstudio.net/en/dl/release_note_old/v2/

[6] ttps://www.clipstudio.net/en/purchase/

[7] ttps://support.clip-studio.com/en-us/faq/articles/20230003

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