Steam killer on the way? Epic Games Store announced with some serious attractions
Unlike other platforms such as Origin, Uplay and recently Bethesda Launcher, the new Epic Games store seems to be the strongest competitor to Valve’s Steam, which has remained at the top for many years
What could make Epic Games Store a better place to buy video games than Steam? In fact, several different points have been announced today by the makers of one of the most famous games in our time, Fortnite, which gathered enough wealth for Epic Games to go head to head with major global companies such as Valve and others in the business of online markets.
The most prominent feature is the way profits are distributed on the new store, offering a temptation that can’t be ignored by video game developers. While Steam requires a 30% share of the sales, Epic Games has announced that it will share only 12% of the profits with developers, including Unreal Engine 4 royalties, while Valve would account an additional 5% If the game uses that engine.
What does that mean for you as a video gamer? There is a lot of tension between developers of video games, especially independent and Valve, which has kept the proportion of commission as it is for independent developers compared to reduction for major developers. With Epic Games Store coming to the scene, indie gaming developers may find a convenient haven there, especially with the hundreds of millions of Epic Games users, thanks to Fortnite’s exclusivity on the platform.
The revenue split reduction for big wigs on Steam comes as a sign of the pressure felt by Valve with many companies leaving their platform to set up their own platforms, which we recently saw with the launch of Bethesda Launcher for its Fallout 76 release joining the likes of EA, which has been completely absent from Steam years ago, to ensure Full Profit Rate through its exclusive store.
What this means is that Epic Games may be able to attract all sorts of developers here, with a 88% profit that will be an irresistible temptation unless Valve takes a similar step.
“We believe that creators, content creators or game developers, are responsible [for the growth and diversity of the industry] and must earn the lion’s share of the revenue.” Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic, spoke. “Companies must provide support services, such as engines, stores, platforms, and payments processes, to offer help, and it should be priced accordingly.”
Another great feature that Epic Games has proudly announced is free games being handed to users every month. That’s right, by owning an Epic Games Store account (or whatever its official name will be) you’ll automatically get two free games every month over the next year. These games may vary from popular Indie titles to AAA titles, but we will not know for sure at the mean time.
One of the differences with Steam platform is that EGS does not contain game-specific forums. Instead, Epic will connect Reddit, Discord, Twitter and Facebook social pages and groups with players through a latest news section on the store. However, we can expect some of the necessary features, such as communicating with game support and reporting bugs, as well as a game rating system.
More details will come at The Game Awards 2018, which looks like it will be a huge event this year with more than 10 new titles announcements, plus many new trailers and hidden surprises, such as the potential reveal of the new PUBG map. It is due on the 6th of December this year.
