Epic Games launches ultimatum for Steam



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This gave Epic an edge, and the company has attracted many high level developers away from Steam, with the intention of launching their titles exclusively on Epic Games Store. The list includes Super Meat Boy Forever, Metro: Exodus, Division 2, Borderlands 3, Detroit: Becoming human, After the party and the last season of Telltale The dead who walk. Many of these games will eventually arrive on Steam and other platforms, but they will remain exclusive to the Epic store for a long time.

However, all this could change. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney tweeted the following challenge to Steam on Wednesday night: "If Steam were committed to generating a permanent 88% revenue share for all developers and publishers without major constraint, Epic would quickly organize while respecting the commitments of our partners) and to consider putting our own games on Steam. "

Epic is the owner of Armament of war and, especially in the current climate of games, Fortnite, a title that turned the company into a $ 15 billion company. None of these franchises are currently available on Steam.

Valve, the company behind Steam, has long been unchallenged in the digital market and its income distribution is proof of that. The company's 70/30 model has been the industry standard for at least a decade and Valve has been forced to update this figure only recently. Just before the announcement of Epic Games Store, Valve revealed a new revenue ratio for Steam, which however only concerns a handful of extremely successful developers.

Today, all games generating more than $ 10 million bring developers 75% of their revenue, while titles that generate more than $ 50 million bring back to their creators 80% of their future revenue. Of course, this initiative does not do much to appease independent and mid-level developers, who can earn 88% of all revenue on Epic Games Store. Even the new Discord store offers a 90/10 split.

Steam remains an undisputed leader in digital distribution, offering more games than any other PC platform and serving as a well established and trusted service for millions of players around the world. However, the existence of Epic Games Store has already pushed Valve to slightly update its revenue sharing policy and Sweeney's challenge might seem appealing as Steam tries to stay on top.

"Such an initiative would be a glorious moment in the history of PC gaming and would have a tremendous impact on other platforms for future generations," wrote Sweeney in a follow-up tweet. "Then the stores could become good places to buy things, rather than the IRS game developer."

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