Sorry, but as a professional license holder, it does not make any sense. Paying 3000 per license to upgrade to Broadcast, for something I really do not need, makes no sense.

This essentially means that if I cannot currently make any real use of the broadcast version, I must rely on the free and rental features for my actual professional work.

This might be a cheaper option, since I have seasonal needs and could rent features, but what would that mean for my two licenses?
Will they show up as the Studio version? Like I never paid for them? 
Will they have the pro features until I upgrade to a newer version?
I do not see any discount for the current holders. I currently see it's about 3000 euros per license to upgrade.

To be fair, the fees paid for maintenance are about the fees required to rent the extra features, so for seasonal users, that might be a more attractive option.

So here are my questions

If I decide to upgrade to the broadcast version in 2-3 years when my work can afford it, will I still be eligible for the discount, or will I have to purchase it anew?
2. When I rent a feature for 2-3 months, what is the usual time it takes to be activated?

I think merging the SE and DE versions is a good step—though perhaps one that should have happened earlier.

However, phasing out the Professional Edition feels like a step in the wrong direction. Instead of removing it, I believe it would make more sense to enhance the Professional Edition by bringing in selected features from the Broadcast version. The Professional Edition has always offered a very attractive balance of features and price, especially for both new and long-time users. In fact, I suspect the majority of users rely on the Pro version, which is why adding features like camera tracking would make it much more valuable.

Meanwhile, advanced enterprise features such as MOS integration, multiple GPU support, and multi-machine workflows could remain exclusive to the Broadcast edition. This way, the product lineup would remain well-structured while also serving the needs of smaller teams and companies.

Considering that Unreal Engine is now available free of charge and continues to evolve rapidly, and with so many other competitors on the market, Aximmetry really needs a compelling option to attract and retain users—especially small studios and teams.

I truly hope the Aximmetry team will reconsider this decision and find a solution that keeps the Professional Edition viable and appealing.

If I wanted to build a studio consisting of four computers, the usual would be one computer with a broadcast license and the three computers with a professional license. Now, do all the computers have to be broadcast licensed?

Removing the Professional Edition is such a weird move. Makes absolutely no sense to me and I’m 100% sure this will lead to a major loss of business for Aximmetry. We’re on Broadcast licenses exclusively so we’re not directly affected by this, but it makes me worried about the long-term implications. 

But most of all, making this announcement without any clear information on what will happen to existing Professional licenses is a major oversight. Also, is there both a Maintenance and a Maintenance+ plan? What is the price difference? If we have 5 Broadcast licenses with the Maintenance+ plan, does that mean we get five 30-minute consultations (2.5h) per month? Is the 10% discount only for new customers? Do existing customers even get the consultation on the first year of the plan? Previously a new Aximmetry license included a 1-year maintenance plan. Has this been removed so no free updates even in the first year if you don’t pay €99/month? The 30-minute consultation each month is included only the first year, but the price for the support plan remains the same the second year, even without any consultation included? 

Aximmetry licensing options have always been confusing, but this takes it to a whole new level. Hopefully we’ll get some clarification here soon. 

I'm sorry to say that this is probably the end of my private use of Aximmetry.

Why should I pay for something I do not need at all (Unreal Engine)?
Going from 30€/year for no watermark in StudioSE to 179€/year is something that does not make sense to me at all.

IMHO that marketing move was not smart at all.

Cheers.

Eric.

Hi Guys.

Wow. This is a major disappointment for us.
While we're in the middle of building a new workflow that would implement at least 5 Professional Licenses, those are simply discontinued.
Plus, for that special workflow I can not justify at all spending 5k€ per license instead of 1.2k.

I think the Professional SE was always an excellent solution for those who don't need UE support and other features of broadcast.

So we have to look into other software solutions, removing Aximmetry from our upcoming workflow.
Sad. Really sad.

Hi @buffos,

Your Professional DE license is a lifetime license. It remains a Professional DE license and will have all its original features. It will not be converted to a Studio license. 
You have access to updates for your Professional DE license until you have a valid maintenance plan. Therefore, we will continue to publish updates for old licenses at least until September 2026. After your maintenance plan runs out, you have a few options: 

1. You keep on using the version of Aximmetry that you had when the maintenance ran out (downgrading is possible as well).

2. You purchase an upgrade to the Broadcast & Film license. The price of the upgrade will depend on the maintenance status of your license at the time. Please write to mailto:sales@aximmetry.com to find out the price of the upgrade, indicating your license number.

3. You download a Studio license and subscribe to the required features. Most Professional users end up paying less if they purchase only the required features for the required time (especially true if the maintenance plan is factored in). Free Studio licenses (when your subscriptions are in an expired state) can be used for prototyping and for storing and building your virtual sets, testing new ones, doing rehearsals, etc. 

Rented features are activated after the payment is completed in the webshop, typically within seconds if you have a valid bank card.

Warmest regards,

Hi @ahmed ahmed,

Thank you for sharing your opinion. We are committed to keeping Aximmetry accessible to studios and creators with a smaller budget as well. This is why our new product offer is designed in such a way that any features they might need are available as rentals and subscriptions. The main features that Professional users rely on (such as SDI and NDI ports) are available as rental add-ons with the Studio license. Actually, most Professional users end up paying less if they purchase only the required features for the required time (especially true if the old maintenance plan is factored in). Free Studio licenses (when your subscriptions are in an expired state) can be used for prototyping and for storing and building your virtual sets, testing new ones, doing rehearsals, etc.

Warmest regards,

Hi Mate,

Thank you for your explanation. However, we believe that the key advantage of the Professional Version lies in its lifetime base features, rather than features tied to a temporary timeframe.

We understand that many major companies are moving toward subscription-based licensing models, but this approach doesn’t necessarily suit every user’s needs. Having the essential base features included as standard is extremely helpful, while allowing users to rent additional features for a limited time if required.

Our suggestion for the Aximmetry software team is to maintain the Professional Version with its core features, and then offer advanced features (e.g., LED, AR, broadcast tools) as add-ons available for rent.

This model would allow users to transition smoothly between different versions while keeping costs aligned with the specific features they actually need.

Dear @huseen,

No, they do not have to be. Alongside your Broadcast & Film license (lifetime or subscription), you can download free Studio licenses plus rent all the necessary features as add-ons that you need for your workflow.

Warmest regards,

Dear @JohanF,

Thank you for your insights. Actually, removing the Professional Edition was quite a long process. We wanted to make sure first that we have a substitute that fits better for most players: from investors to end users with low budgets. Years back, we changed the free Studio Edition. We gave extra rights to its usage when we allowed it to be used for business purposes, even with a watermark (like prototyping, testing, creating, and editing scenes, etc.) for free. Then we started to add different features on a subscription basis. Today we are at a point that you can pick all the services you need to upgrade a Studio to a now obsolete Professional, and you can go even further... The subscriptions allow you to fine-tune what you actually use and need to pay for, and in the same way, you can decide on the time period when you need those things. Most users will pay less for more services if you add the old maintenance plan to the budget. And this was visible in our sales numbers as well. 

We believe it will help Aximmetry to make our offering more streamlined, as you said, it was always a bit complicated, so we needed to take steps towards simplification. We believe it will help the business in the long run as well. Nowadays, software companies are mostly measured by recurring revenue, and it is in the community's interest to maintain the development of Aximmetry in the long run.

Broadcast & Film will remain the flagship product and the only product that can be purchased for a lifetime (or in 2 other models: rent-to-own or subscription). Most professionals will go for this, and we remain the biggest bang for the buck. Many smaller studios, smaller companies often choose the daily rental option of Broadcast & Film, which turns out to be a very popular possibility.

You are right about the fact that our newsletter didn't cover all the details. There is only 1 single reason for that: we didn't want to end up in the spam folder, and we cannot write too long about licensing details, but we are here to help anyone. All the old licenses will remain supported at least till September 2026. Those who have these licenses will receive updates and bug fixes at least as long as they have a valid maintenance plan.

Yes, you guessed it well, if you have 5 licenses with Maintenance+, then you might receive 5 times 30 minutes consultation with our Support Team per month. Existing Broadcast DE licenses might receive the consultation if they start paying for the Maintenance+ before the expiry of their old maintenance plans. Any time period that gets double-covered by the old Maintenance and the new Maintenance+ will make you eligible for the 30-minutes consultation in those months. Existing Broadcast DE users will be eligible for the discount within 30 days after the expiry of their old maintenance plans. Newly purchased Broadcast & Film licenses remain covered for the 1st year in regards of free updates and bug fixes even if the Maintenance+ subscription is declined. We rather offer many benefits to persuade more customers to subscribe: one of them is the initial discount another is the guaranteed pricing as long as the subscription is maintained, the third is the 30-minutes consultation per month up until the license turns 1 year old, and lastly we offer monthly payment plans (unlike with the old maintenance which could be only purchased annually). The old Maintenance won't be available in our Webshop anymore, and you are right, the basic support SLA (without the 30 minutes consultation) remains in place from the 2nd year of Maintenance+, this is one of the reasons that we want to migrate everyone to the new plan, which provides a better overall experience.

Let me also inform you that we have an optional Enterprise licensing model as well for those who plan to purchase 10+ licenses or continuous support (this licensing is basically a customized subscription-based model). 

Warmest regards,

Dear @SirEdric,

We are sorry if the change is upsetting. Some items in the SE product line were heavily discounted, and we can no longer maintain these prices. Perhaps you could look at it from a different point of view. You have the option to download the Studio license and subscribe to the required features only during the months when you actually broadcast or create content (if your work is seasonal). Free Studio licenses (when your subscriptions are in an expired state) can be used for prototyping and for storing and building your virtual sets, testing new ones, doing rehearsals, etc. 

Warmest regards,

Dear @EricWest,

We are sorry if the change is upsetting. In our view, you do not need to justify the spending; just adjust your planning to a different licensing structure. You have the option of downloading the Studio license and subscribing to the required features. Most Professional users end up paying less if they purchase only the required features for the required time (especially true if the maintenance plan is factored in). Free Studio licenses (when your subscriptions are in an expired state) can be used for prototyping and for storing and building your virtual sets, testing new ones, doing rehearsals, etc.

We also offer Enterprise licensing that might make sense if this is a product built around Aximmetry that you are developing, and 10+ licenses would be purchased, or customized support plans are required.  

Of course, it is worth checking the market for other options. We think you will find that most software companies are shifting towards the subscription model. This makes our business more predictable and ensures a safe operation for us, during which we can concentrate on perfecting the software instead of forever chasing clients to renew maintenance plans.  For our users, it means that they can spend on our software as and when they need it. Hopefully a win-win for all of us. 

Warmest regards,

Hi @ahmed ahmed,

Thank you very much for the idea. Unfortunately, we do not think it is financially viable. 

Warmest regards,

@Mate: What you’re saying sounds reasonable at first, until we look at the fine print. What is really happening is that your customers who paid $2K for a Professional license, will now have to pay $169/month (from September 2026) to stay up to date and keep the functionality they’ve already paid for (same price as new users who haven’t paid $2k). Saying it’s a lifetime license is a bit misleading, since a software that doesn’t get any updates (especially support for new UE5 versions) will eventually become obsolete and it seems you’re not really offering an upgrade path to the subscription model, only the option of upgrading for $3K and paying $100/month for each license or just trashing your Professional license and get on the Studio subscription under the same conditions as new users. I might be wrong, but I think some features like the network control and being available as a node in a multi-machine was available in Aximmetry Professional but not in Studio, so you won’t really get the full Professional package either? 

It’s still not clear to me exactly what existing users get when they pay for the Maintenance+ plan. Our plan just expired, so will we get the consultation if we sign up for the new plan within 30 days? What other benefits does the “+” entail in this more expensive support plan for existing customers? 

Well, JohanF has a point.

Professional licenses are practically trashed. It might not be evident with the current UE version, but 2-3 versions down the line or with a major version update, once there are major incompatibilities (like v4 with v5 and GI).

Practically, the licenses are downgraded to free. You could, of course, have decided to upgrade them for free to Broadcast and merge them.
I do not recollect a similar case where paid licenses were phased out instead of auto-upgraded.

For instance, if you have 4 license buckets and want 1, you can't just keep the highest-paying licenses.

What did someone who bought the license a few months ago pay for? I am trying to understand. Did he pay all that money for a license that will be discontinued? You realize that no sane person would have done that.

Hi @JohanF,

Regarding your questions: The Studio edition can be used in a multi-machine setting, just like the old Professional edition. Even with a watermark, you can fully access the multimachine functions (great for initial tests, etc.).Maintenance+ is more than the old plan in that you gain access to our support team through Cayzu and receive an answer within 5 days. I would argue that it is not pricier; we gently factored in the inflation in the last 7 years (but the inflation was still bigger than the increase).

Regarding your theoretical points about the Professional users: it's probably better to compare apples with apples. So if you spent only 2k on a Professional, then you are in the very same position today or in 2030. You purchased a lifetime license that you can keep on using without time limit. The majority of our Professional users did this, so the majority of our users should be okay. The minority spent an additional $420 annually for maintenance, please notice the difference: there was a charge for maintenance even before which was an annual subscription-like charge. They remain covered at least for an additional year. After that if they require update, then yes, they have to switch to Studio or upgrade to Broadcast. Your calculation of monthly $169 contains some assumptions, that are mostly not true. So many Professional users used only 1 SDI port or NDI port and they might end up paying less than today. So only the minority of the minority will end up paying more, but in some ways we believe it's a fair distinction: running a machine with 4 SDI and 4 NDI ports versus running it with a single SDI port can have a pricing difference, because at the end of the day we want more professional use cases to contribute more to the licensing fees. And again, sorry, but We need to collect some money to maintain the company. The only thing we can do is to make the pricing as just as possible.

Warmest regards,

Hi @buffos,

Thanks for sharing your concerns. As you can see from the answer to JohanF, the fact is that the majority of the Professional customers did not want to pay for maintenance, so they had no intention to receive updates after the 1st year. They might still be "sane". They might have a project or event that required the license, and once it's working they don't want to upgrade just for the sake of upgrading. They might use the same license for lifetime. Or if they need to step up in the future, then they rather spend the money when it is justified by the additional income of a newer project. At that time, they can pick from the products and subscriptions we offer. Please don't worry about recent Professional customers: we warned all of them of the imminent discontinuation of this edition, so they made an educated choice.