Using maya was the only painful decision in 4 so far, because it really is a shame that it isn’t easily free like blender was for 3. In terms of pushing the quality of the game though I feel that the trade-off is worth it because it’s really easy to develop a bunch of custom tools for maya which I can release for free here: https://github.com/SmartlyDressedGames/U4-Maya
Right now my hope is that modders will be able to get their hands on it through non-purchase avenues like pulpfreewater mentions with the education copies. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using free copies for modding since it’s non-commercial use. Personally I got a discounted 3-year license so it wasn’t too-too expensive for the amount I use it every day.
Long long long term I want to make our own cad tools customized to the art style that will be free 