First off, we would like to apologize to you all for the fact that our Royal Connect Beta and the Royal TS/X / Royal Server V26 releases are taking longer than we expected.

A significant part of this delay has been the work required to prepare for the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). That work has been, and continues to be, extremely time-consuming. We underestimated the sheer amount of documentation, processes, and other administrative work involved in meeting its requirements. We know many of you are waiting for these releases, and we're sorry we haven't been able to get them into your hands sooner.

The CRA has also led us to revisit the licensing model we announced earlier. In that announcement, we said Royal TS, Royal TSX, Royal Server, and the upcoming Royal Connect products would continue to be offered exclusively as perpetual licenses. We need to explain why that plan is changing.

Our intention was straightforward: our customers should be able to keep using the version they purchased after their software maintenance has expired. We know how much that flexibility matters, and we still want to offer it.

The CRA introduces long-term obligations for software manufacturers to handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates during a defined support period. That period is generally at least five years and must also take into account how long a product can reasonably be expected to remain in use. Meeting those obligations involves ongoing engineering work as well as substantial documentation and administrative effort. The CRA sets out these support-period requirements in Article 13.

Under the model we originally described, someone could buy a perpetual license with a relatively short software maintenance period and continue using the last eligible version indefinitely. We could then face a much longer security-support commitment without corresponding software maintenance revenue. For a small independent software vendor, we do not see an economically sustainable way to offer that model as planned.

We never wanted to move customers to subscription licensing. The CRA does not require us to sell subscriptions. But after assessing the work and long-term costs involved, we believe offering a subscription alongside a perpetual license with a longer support period is the only economically feasible way forward for us.

Annual Subscription

Customers will be able to purchase an annual subscription that includes:

• Access to the licensed products
• Product updates
• New features and improvements
• Bug fixes
• Security updates

If the subscription is not renewed, the right to use the software ends.

Perpetual License with Long-Term Software Maintenance

We will continue to offer a perpetual license for customers who need or prefer a permanent right to use the software.

This license will include a defined long-term software maintenance and support period, initially planned as five years. During that period, customers will receive product updates, new versions, bug fixes, and security updates. We will clearly communicate the applicable support end date at the time of purchase.

After the included software maintenance period ends, customers can continue using the last version they are entitled to use. Because this option includes both permanent usage rights and a substantial support commitment, it will cost more upfront than an annual subscription.

Why We Chose This Model

We understand that a subscription option is a significant change from what we announced. We also understand that customers who chose Royal Apps because of perpetual licensing may be disappointed. We're sorry we have had to revise our plan.

We want to preserve a real choice:

• An annual subscription for customers who prefer a lower upfront cost and ongoing access to supported software
• A perpetual license for customers who want permanent usage rights and are prepared to pay upfront for the associated long-term support period

We believe this is the most sustainable way for us to keep building and securing our products while continuing to offer perpetual licenses.

We will publish final pricing, transition rules, and detailed FAQs before the new model becomes available. We will also explain how existing licenses and active software maintenance agreements will be affected.

Thank you for your patience as we work through this. We'll share more information regarding the Royal Connect Beta and the Royal TS/X / Royal Server V26 releases as soon as we can give you reliable timelines.