Welcome to the new Corona!

21 June 2017

Welcome to the new Corona!

We have some very big news — Corona is completely free!

Starting today, when you download Corona from our daily builds page, you will get a combined package that includes the standard Simulator-based product and the native-based product (formerly Corona Enterprise). And naturally, the next public release of Corona will also be a similar combined product.

Windows: Corona-2017.3100.msi
macOS: Corona-2017.3100.dmg

One product: Corona

Since Corona is a unified product now, we will no longer refer to “Corona SDK” and “Corona Enterprise” as distinct items. Instead, we will simply refer to our product as Corona. In cases when we need to clarify a specific aspect of the Corona toolset, we will refer to Simulator builds or native builds.

Native builds include the Corona splash screen

We’ve made Corona Native free, but in exchange for this huge savings for you, giving us a little marketing seems like fair compensation. You can, of course, purchase the Splash Screen Control plugin to remove or customize the default splash screen. To ease in the transition, users who previously paid for Corona Enterprise will receive a 1-year license for the Splash Screen Control plugin.

We have a brand new website

A new combined Corona product deserves a brand-new website, don’t you think? The new website is built on modern web practices and should perform well across all devices. We have also done a lot of housekeeping on old content too. Most of our content should still be around, but you may come across a bookmark or find something through a web search that was intentionally left behind.

We now offer new support plans

Many people can build successful games simply using our fantastic guides, tutorials, and documentation, or turn to our community forums or public Slack channel when they need help from the community. Sometimes, however, you may need more help, so we’re offering some great support plans that will get you access to unique Corona Labs support features like private channels in Slack, prioritized feature requests, and more.

What is the Corona Slack channel?

We offer a public Slack channel that’s open to everyone, but Slack doesn’t allow automatic signup. If you want to join, please visit our Slack page and we will send you an invitation. If you subscribe to one of our new support plans, you will also be invited to private channels where you’ll get closer access to the Corona Labs team.

You have questions? We have answers!

Q. What does “completely free” mean?

A. There are no limits. The previous income restrictions are gone, so feel free to earn as much money as you can. If you want to build and maintain your own plugins, you’re now free to do so. Of course, most developers don’t want to re-invent the wheel, so we will continue to offer and maintain a wide array of world-class monetization, analytics, and attribution plugins, conveniently available to help you make the most from your apps.

Q. How does Corona Labs make money under the free model?

A. First and foremost, we want to emphasize the value in using our current ready-to-go monetization plugins. Between paid advertising plugins, revenue-share-based plugins, and free monetization plugins where we have a partnership with the provider, we encourage you to build apps that use advertising as a component of your income strategy. The more successful your app is, the more successful we will be.

The Corona Marketplace is also an area we want to see grow. We encourage you to begin there and browse for any art/audio assets you may need, as well as game templates which can be used to kick-start your own projects. We also want to encourage our developers to become content providers for the marketplace! If you have a game template that others can use as a framework — even if it’s a simple one — please submit it and create a new income stream for yourself as a Marketplace provider.

Another exciting development is that we are ramping up our publishing support. We are now working in cooperation with large, experienced publishers to make sure you have the best success possible. With our publishing services, you’ll gain access to pre-release services, cross-promotion, user acquisition, in-game analytics, App Store Optimization (ASO), and more.

Q. I just purchased Enterprise last week. Can I get a refund?

A. We recognize that many people may have purchased Corona Enterprise yesterday, last month, or six months ago. Unfortunately, we can’t issue refunds, but to compensate for these changes, existing Enterprise customers will get a 1-year license for the Splash Screen Control plugin.

In addition, existing Corona Enterprise “Small Business” subscribers will receive one year of our Priority support subscription, while Enterprise “Unlimited” subscribers will receive one year of our Priority Plus support.

Where can we discuss further?

We want to hear from you! Please visit our community forums and use our announcement thread to ask us questions about these exciting changes and more.