Ex Ultra Engine ( Leadworks ) game engine
| Basic Information | |
|---|---|
| Release Year | 2025 |
| Product Type | Software PC gaming engine |
| In Production | Yes, in development |
| Official Website | https://www.ultraengine.com |
Leadworks program is an gaming engine that shares multiple types of licenses, one of them being perpetual ( for single user ).
Game developers are required to code their game using the code that powers the engine. As this practice is tightly coupled with the interface of the gaming engine, games cannot be ported to other gaming engines. Having a game engine that can be disabled remotely should convince you to not trust the owner of the engine and save yourself from losing years of your work.
The software is adding more and more features that track your work. Yes, you can disable that but forcing you to update, they can add more code to simply bypass that.
If you want to work offline, to avoid sharing your personal data, you are not allowed as it claims that you need to “prove that you have a valid license”
Consumer impact summary
Incidents
This is a list of all consumer protection incidents related to this product. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the Ex Ultra Engine ( Leadworks ) game engine category.
Changing of the brand revealed that the program is actually remotelly disabled
For many, the problem shared here may not seem as an issue, but I want to share the practices implemented in the program are "flexible" to mess your rights as they please, so please do not buy this product.
I purchase a license at the beginning of 2025 with the goal of learning the engine and have a nice hobby. While I was learning some prerequisites for creating a game, the company decided to change the branding and go back to a previous used name.
While they can do what ever they want, I am expected to have my version and my installed instance working as expected, but they disable it and only available if I get the new client with a different name and some added features ( which I believe adds more tracking of my personal work TODO maybe someone can help with providind evidance that is not sending anything after "disable" is checked ) .
The company changed the EULA with the new name and also updated the login, so I can no longer use what I used when I purchased the product, as they now ask for a different loging details.
As it is clearly stated that the program tracks your personal details for "future improvements" I wanted to move the program to a PC that has no internet connection ( Also wanted to automate some builds in VMs ). I cannot do any of that, my local installation has been disabled, unless I am installing the new product. As I did not installed the new program I believe there is no fix to not have the service constantly connecting to the internet while using it.
If you are reading this and ask, why am I not installing the new program; please work with this answer "I am not allowed". ( also that is not the point )
As stated in the EULA, this is a program that I can install and use. There is no mention that it requires internet connection to use it, nor that I am forced to update or anything in that regards. It clearly states that is sold "AS IS".
The solution is quite simple, inside my account on ultra engine I should be able to download the program and use it wherever I want and I can release games with no royalties to be paid. By having the download button in my account on their site, the license is confirmed so there is no need to track my work or disable my local installation remotely.
I am not sure if what just happen is intentional, but with the decision to change the domain, this obvious problem popped up and I politly asked for a fix in their forum and on their discord channel, but the owner refuses to respond.
The open tichet:
https://www.leadwerks.com/community/topic/68238-violation-of-end-user-license-agreement/
Incidents affecting all of the product line/company's products can be found in the prouct line/company article: Product line title/Company article title
See also