At Scirra, we've always believed the future of software is on the web. Six years ago we bet on HTML5 for Construct 2. Back then it was a pretty crazy move. Some even thought it foolish. However we were vindicated: the web has rocketed far beyond everything we dared hope for — and it's still going strong.
As Arthur C. Clarke noted, the only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. We aim to redefine what is possible with the web. So we built the Construct 3 editor itself for the browser.
Construct 3 works in Chrome on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS. There's nothing to install — it's as simple as visiting a website. There are too many new features to list here, so we'll be posting regular updates over the next few weeks going in to more detail. However we've designed it web-first, with features like cloud save, remote preview, integrated WebFonts support, native-grade WebGL rendering, and much more. But don't worry - it'll still work fine when you go offline, even with an intermittent connection, and you can keep your projects offline too if you prefer. And as we promised, Construct 2 projects import with high fidelity. You won't have seen anything like this running in your browser before. And we're nearly ready to share what we've created.
Moving software to the web changes everything. Consequently we've had to make one change to the old way of doing things. As with the vast majority of web-based services, Construct 3 licenses will be based on a subscription rather than a one-off payment. We also know many existing Construct 2 users will be thinking about upgrading. Here's a summary of how pricing and upgrades will work.
- A Construct 3 Personal subscription will be $99/year. This covers all export platforms.
- Existing licensed Construct 2 users (including on Steam) will get 50% off their first year.
- Anyone who buys Construct 2 from today until Construct 3's release will get their first year of Construct 3 for free. To make it a no-brainer, we're also putting Construct 2 on sale for $99. So there's no reason to wait!
- If they choose, our existing Education users will be able to upgrade to Construct 3 for the remainder of their license period at no additional cost.
- We will still have a basic free edition of Construct 3.
A public beta of Construct 3 will begin by April. At first our focus will be on testing, but we aim to make the full release by summer. We think you'll love it.
You can also follow an FAQ thread in our new Construct 3 forum.
Tomorrow we'll post the first screenshot of Construct 3 in action. On Friday we'll make the first of a series of major feature announcements. Regular updates will continue up until the launch of the public beta. So keep checking back regularly — there's a lot more to come yet!