In December last year, Fortnite and Unreal engine maker Epic launched its own digital PC game store. While it’s still admittedly a little barren, I don’t expect that to continue, because what Epic has done to sway developers and publishers over to their storefront is pledge to take a lot less money from sales.
Traditionally, Valve takes a 30 percent cut from all sales on steam. They recently changed that to a tiered system that saw them take a smaller cut, but only when sales exceeded a threshold. Epic, meanwhile, is letting publishers and developers keep 88 percent of sales value, which is a tempting proposition. It’s mostly drawn in indie developers who frankly need the extra income, but it seems Epic’s plans are starting to entice the bigger players.
Ubisoft has now announced that it’ll skip steam for its impending online shooter, The Division 2. The game had a now removed Steam Page, with a Ubisoft representative saying “We have no plans currently on releasing Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 on Steam.”
Ubisoft has also said that it’ll partner with Epic “on additional select titles to be announced during the coming year.”
“We entrust Epic to deliver a smooth journey for our fans, from preordering the game and enjoying our Beta to the launch of Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 on March 15,” Ubisoft’s Chris Early, vice president of partnerships, said in a press release. “Epic continues to disrupt the videogame industry, and their third party digital distribution model is the latest example, and something Ubisoft wants to support.”
I know many PC gamers are still hesitant to step away from Steam, but I think it’s time to embrace the plethora of launchers and services available now. It’s not going to change, and I honestly think it’s about time Steam’s stranglehold on PC game sales was properly disrupted.
The Division 2 is scheduled for release on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One on March 15.
Last Updated: January 10, 2019
Kromas
January 10, 2019 at 07:36
Steam needs the competition because they have become lazy.
Admiral Chief
January 10, 2019 at 08:01
Gaan jy die game koop?
Kromas
January 10, 2019 at 13:46
Maybe ….
Geoffrey Tim
January 10, 2019 at 08:05
100% And this is some GOOOD competition. Others have tried, but nobody has Epic’s budget.
Admiral Chief
January 10, 2019 at 07:56
^^^
Allykhat
January 10, 2019 at 10:45
^^^^
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 10, 2019 at 08:20
There’s three parties involved here – the pub/dev, the store, and the customer. This so-called competition clearly benefits the first two, but not me, for me this is an inconvenience. I’ve yet to hear one solid reason why this is good for the customer, you know – the person actually spending money.
Guz
January 10, 2019 at 09:30
Well said, sums it up nicely
Mark Treloar
January 10, 2019 at 09:35
How about freedom of choice? Not being locked into one supplier and being force to use their service? Problem with Steam is that if they have an exclusive they can pretty much i gore customer concerns
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 10, 2019 at 10:07
Freedom of choice would be Division 2 being available on Steam and Epic, not Steam or Epic. Steam and GOG compete with the same titles.
CrAiGiSh
January 10, 2019 at 08:40
Gaben is not pleased … XD
Magoo
January 10, 2019 at 11:43
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fbfcf604faff251fbf4a8ff8d232187cce656d419c4d4734f888bb1b393d87da.gif
G8crasha
January 10, 2019 at 09:10
Well, I’m sure Steam’s Executives will start sitting up and taking notice if more AAA titles jump ship to Epic Games. Microsoft vs. Sony (for consoles), Steam vs. Epic (for online game stores)!
Guz
January 10, 2019 at 09:30
Thats only if Epic is any good, personally haven’t used it so reserving judgment for now
Mark Treloar
January 10, 2019 at 09:35
Download speeds can be an issue with EPIC
Magoo
January 10, 2019 at 11:57
It’s great for many reasons. But it has it’s downfalls, especially for consumers. I’m playing Blops4 atm on the Battle.net client and it’s very lonely without my Steam friends, and I’ve been stacking up CoD friends on Steam since MW2. Just don’t have the time to find them all on B.net. I add them when I come across them in lobbies.
And frankly the social features on B.net SUCK compared to Steam.
I hope Epic is willing to throw money into perfecting their client so that it doesn’t feel like a drag or a downgrade migrating from Steam.
Gavin Mannion
January 10, 2019 at 13:02
If only all these companies would play nice with their community functions so that you can chat to your steam friends from Epic etc