In particularly well-timed style, Epic Games – they of the Unreal Engine and Fortnite – have announced they’re going face to face with Steam with the Epic Games Store. The new storefront will open by way of net and the Epic Games Launcher earlier than the tip of 2018. Enticingly for builders, Epic have introduced that they’ll solely be taking a flat 12% minimize of income, lower than half of Steam’s 30%. This announcement comes days after Valve underwhelmingly announced they’ll slightly reduce their cut, but only for multi-million dollar hits.
While Epic’s deal for builders is healthier than company rivals, it’s price nothing that the indie-focused Itch permits builders to decide on their very own minimize. Still, few different firms are as effectively positioned as Epic to offer actual competitors to Valve, because the Epic Games Store can be out there by the prevailing Epic Games Launcher. That launcher is on numerous computer systems already due to Fortnite Battle Royale’s free-to-play proliferation. The retailer may also assist mods, non-commercial games and free-to-play stuff, as Steam does, and DRM is fully non-compulsory.
In an interview with Epic head Tim Sweeney, Gamesindustry.biz requested how this new retailer deliberate to curb the type of abusive behaviour we’ve seen elsewhere. The response is straightforward, however heartening – no boards, opt-in person evaluations (so no review-bombing) and official channels for submitting suggestions and bug stories to builders. Studios are free to run their very own group areas and hyperlink to them on the Epic Games Store in the event that they so please. They even have a beneficiant refund coverage outlined – a no-questions-asked likelihood to return a game inside 14 days.
While a lot is answered in this interview with Game Informer, I’ve my very own questions concerning the new retailer. Epic have introduced that they’ll be opening with “a hand-curated set of games on PC and Mac”. Right now there’s no formal course of for getting your games onto the shop, though Sweeney states that they may “open the store up more widely in 2019”. Good to listen to, however I’d put good odds on the Epic Games retailer not supporting sexual content like Steam. I’m curious to listen to what the corporate’s insurance policies can be on that entrance.
The market has been splintering for a while now, with even Discord and Kongregate opening shops in latest months. Epic leveraging their Fortnite-borne place and Valve’s latest fake pas places them on good footing, and in the event that they actually can provide a greater deal for smaller studios, then Valve may lastly have some competitors. Let’s simply hope it’s simpler to get into Epic’s retailer than the early days of Steam and its notoriously opaque approvals course of. GOG confusingly rejected the brilliant Opus Magnum at first – even hand-picked curation can go awry.
There’s no date for the Epic Games Store launch but, however they plan on opening for enterprise this 12 months. Epic will announce extra throughout The Game Awards on Thursday, December sixth. You can see Epic’s official announcement here.
