Monday, June 9th, 2014 Posted by Jim Thacker

Autodesk launches Maya LT on Steam


Creating an asset for DOTA 2 in Maya LT. Autodesk is to make the cut-down games edition of Maya available on Steam on 22 April, on a $50-per-month pay-as-you-go subscription.

Originally posted on 15 April. Scroll down for updates.

Autodesk is to release Maya LT, its cut-down version of Maya aimed at indie games artists, via Steam. The software will become available on Steam on 22 April for Windows and Mac OS X.

Priced correctly for the feature set?
Autodesk isn’t the first major developer to release a version of one of its 3D tools on Steam: The Foundry released Modo Steam Edition last December.

Again, the marketing for the Steam release (below) is targeted towards the community for Valve’s hugely popular DOTA 2, although Maya LT is far less of a simple item-creation tool than Modo Steam Edition.

As with other recent Autodesk announcements, the Steam version of Maya LT will only be available on a pay-as-you-go subscription, priced at $50 per month.

That seems likely to prompt some debate in the Steam community, since LT can also be rented outside Steam via cheaper quarterly and annual subscription plans, or bought as a perpetual licence for $795.

Given that some Steam users baulked at the prospect of paying $149 for Modo SE, it will be interesting to see if they prove willing to pay $600 a year for the extra functionality in Maya LT.

Updated 9 June: Autodesk has cut the price of the Steam edition of Maya LT to $30 per month.

The price has been cut in the company’s own online store to match. The price of an annual rental has also been cut from $400 to $240 in the Autodesk store. Perpetual licences remain unchanged at $795.

Read more about Maya LT on Autodesk’s Steam community hub