Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 received’t be launching on Steam, however Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft’s upcoming co-op shooter will launch on Epic’s more and more fashionable games retailer, as announced here. Ever since Epic unveiled their retailer in early December, they’ve been racking up unbiased exclusives, however signing a multi-game settlement with Ubisoft seems like an enormous deal. The game will nonetheless be out there direct from Ubisoft through Uplay, however the Steam retailer web page has now vanished (a Google-cached copy here), with an Epic Store page taking its place. The game launches March 15th.
So far, Epic Store exclusives have been largely from smaller builders and publishers. Giving away Subnautica for free drew in loads of curiosity, however till right now there have been no large publishers dedicated to exclusivity. It’s not an enormous shock, given Epic’s promise to take a a lot smaller income lower than Steam (12% as a substitute of Steam’s preliminary 30%, decreasing for big sellers) however this transfer implies that Ubisoft sees a future for this new retailer. Epic’s announcement additionally mentions that the businesses “will also partner on additional select titles to be announced during the coming year”.
Even if preliminary gross sales are good, it’ll be a while till the Epic Store generally is a true rival to Steam, however Ubisoft banking on it seems like a serious shift. EA’s games are actually largely Origin-exclusive on PC, however I’m wondering if Epic’s promise of a rising new storefront providing a preferable income break up received’t lure them again. Either method, with huge publishers now contemplating a Steam launch non-compulsory and even pointless, I really feel we’re seeing a serious break up occurring right here in PC games distribution. Whether there’s any benefit to be gained for patrons is but to be seen.
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is out on March 15th, and you’ll find out extra (together with particulars of beta sign-ups) in Dave Irwin’s info-dump here. The first game – effectively price enjoying after updates – is headlining the current Humble Monthly, for those who’re on the lookout for an inexpensive peek on the collection.
