Using a license

See also: Tutorial on How Construct 2 Licenses Work

Construct 2 Free Edition

Construct 2 can be downloaded and installed to any computer for free, including site-wide at non-commercial institutions like schools. Without a license, it runs as the Free Edition. This has the following limitations:

- A maximum of 100 events in a project
- A maximum of 4 layers in any layout
- No folder organisation in the project bar
- No event search
- No configurations bar
- Not allowed to be used for commercial purposes (however, it can be used in education and other non-profit organisations)

Buying a license removes all of these limits. Licenses can be purchased from Scirra.com. Both the Standard and Business licenses remove all the above free edition limitations.

The Standard license

All the free edition limits are removed with a Standard license. However, the rules for commercial use are different for individuals and organisations.

Individuals may use a standard license for commercial purposes up to a revenue limit of $5000. Once revenues associated with creations made with Construct 2 exceed $5000 (including associated advertising/promotion) a business license must be purchased. However, no business license is necessary before that point.

Not-for-profit organisations like schools, libraries and universities may use standard licenses to remove the free edition limits. Bulk discounts are available.

Commercial organisations cannot purchase standard licenses: they must purchase business licenses.

The Business license

Most individuals do not need a business license. It is only necessary for:

Individuals who have already made over $5000 from revenue associated with Construct 2 creations, and

Commercial organisations like businesses.

Not-for-profit organisations never need business licenses - they may use standard licenses instead.

The license file: c2license.txt

Once Construct 2 has been purchased, a license file is sent to the email account of the purchaser. Sometimes it may take a couple of days for the payment to clear and the email to arrive. If it takes longer than a week, email licensehelp@scirra.com for help getting your license sent to you.

Your license is stored in a file called c2license.txt which will be attached to the email. You simply need to copy this folder in to either the install directory or My Documents. Restart Construct 2 and it should launch as the licensed version: the purchaser name should appear on the start page and About dialog, Free edition should disappear from the title bar, and the free edition limits should be removed. Alternatively, you can place your license file wherever you like and locate it by clicking Load license file in the About dialog.

Unless a license is purchased for an organisation, the license is for the individual rather than their computer. This means you can use your licensed copy of Construct 2 on as many computers as you like, so long as you are the only one using it. Other people must buy their own license. Remember Construct 2 can be used as portable software (see Installing Construct 2). You can put your license file in the install directory on a removable drive and take your licensed copy of Construct 2 to any computer.

You must not modify the license file at all. It is protected by a hash, and any modification whatsoever will cause Construct 2 to reject the license and revert to the Free Edition.

You must not share your license file! Keep it to yourself like you do with serial numbers for other software. Also, the license file contains some of your personal information, so it is certainly preferable to keep it private.