[Retric]

Competion is a wonderful thing.

I can't build a decent car for less than the cost of a low end BMW. But, there are plenty of other companies than can.

So, the real question is what are the other options out there and I suspect there are few engines that can come close.

[cwyers]

iDTech is no longer licensed for third-party use; only Zenimax properties can use it. CryEngine is available -- they have a $10 a month subscription plan that is royaly-free, but you don't get source code access like you do with Unreal Engine here. (They offer seperate terms for source access.[1]) Unity exists, but I don't think it's in quite the same tier as Unreal (although for some projects that may not matter).

[1] http://cryengine.com/get-cryengine