Another online, digital game distribution platform looks to join the current list of contenders. Taking notes from companies like Valve, EA, and CD Projekt Red, Epic Games has announced that it will soon launch the Epic Games Store. According to their official announcement yesterday, the Epic team has been steadily working over the past 5 years to bring this idea to fruition. The platform is set to launch with “a hand-curated set of games” with a broader selection becoming available throughout 2019. The first set of games will be tailored for PC and Mac, but options for Android and other platforms will be made available as time progresses.
They also highlighted the two key pillars of their operating model: 1) A store with Fair economics 2) A store that allows for a direct relationship with players. To reinforce the sentiment of that first principle, all developers will earn 88% of the revenue that their games generate. All games will see a 12% cut passed on to Epic, but those built using the Unreal Engine will have 5% of their engine royalty costs covered. This 5% will be taken out of Epic’s aforementioned 12% fee. The bar chart below better illustrates these percentages.
In terms of having a more direct relationship with the players, Epic will automatically subscribe players to the newsfeeds of developers whose game’s they purchase. The thought process here is that this will allow developers to easily reach their players to make them aware of game updates, news, and upcoming releases. This newsfeed will be prominent within the new storefront and developers will be given full control of their pages (this includes game-specific pages as well). Epic made it clear that no ads or cross-marketing will occur on these pages.
In an effort to appeal to the YouTube and Twitch scenes, developers will also have the option of opting into the “Epic Games Support-A-Creator” program. This program will allow content creators and streamers to earn certain percentages of game revenue from sales that they refer to their audiences. To further entice these developers, Epic will cover this 5% shared revenue for the first 24 months.
The last detail that Epic chose to stress was the fact that this store will not just be reserved for Unreal or Unity-based games. All games are welcome to set up shop with Epic’s new storefront as it begins its journey. Epic boasts a strong system for storing payments, serving bandwidth, and supporting customers. They specifically reference the success of Fortnite in relation to these claims. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. Will this new platform soar above it’s competitors or fail to generate enough Steam?
SOURCE: Press Release
