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Epic Games is starting a store to rival Steam
Fortnite developer Epic Games is launching a new online shop called Epic Games Store. The store will offer an 88/12 percent developer-to-Epic revenue split, compared to a 70/30 split on Steam for devs earning less than a certain amount. The Epic Games Store is launching soon with a collection of titles that will expand throughout 2019.
Epic is leaning hard on the revenue split disparity between Steam and their new store. CEO Tim Sweeney tells MCV that “In our analysis, stores charging 30 per cent are marking up their costs by 300 to 400 per cent." The announcement also came with a graph to push the point.
Games using any engine will be allowed on the store, though Epic will waive the licence charge for games that use its Unreal Engine.
“We believe that creators, both games developers and content creators, are responsible for the game industry’s enormous growth and vibrance, and should earn the lion’s share of industry revenue,” says Sweeney to MCV. “Companies providing supporting services, such as engines, stores, platforms, and payment processors, are just here to help, and should be priced accordingly.”
More details are planned at the Game Awards on Thursday. The announcement comes at a tricky moment for Steam. Some indie developers are upset at revenue split alterations that favour top-selling games. An accidental algorithm tweak has also been causing problems for some devs.
