Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite and the widely used game creation software Unreal Engine, It is also about to start selling games from other companies.
Recientemente Epic Games announced on their blog the launch of a new product "Epic Games Store", which launches a direct competitor to Steam which is maintained by Valve.
Epic is launching a new online store like Steam, which will also feature third-party games, marking another major threat to Steam's dominant position as the leading distributor of PC titles.
The Epic Store, launching soon, It will start with a select number of PC and Mac games, and will open to more developers next year.
According to Epic Games, their platform will be more profitable for devs, the announcement was made by Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney.
Epic Games wants to popularize its store
Epic Games will launch its own store to compete with Steam and a client for Linux is in the sights.
According to Tim, Epic wants to deliver a store with fair rewards to devs and also a direct relationship with them, thus facilitating communication.
In his speech he commented the following:
“We will launch the Epic Games Store shortly and are on a long journey to advance the cause of all developers.
The store will be launched with a set of games, which for the moment will work on Windows and Mac, then it will be opened more widely for other games and for Android and other platforms open throughout 2019. «
Another of Epic Games' cards is to attract developers through the financial side of the platform, giving a greater part of what Valve offers, even changing to the policies, in which it says the following:
Epic Games will offer 88% for all developers who are about to use its platform and does not charge the traditional 5% of royalties from users of its game engine.
By comparison, Valve's Steam store takes 20-30 percent of the game's revenue..
The Epic Games Store, which is open to games developed on any game engine, will be accessible through the Epic Games launch and on a specific website.
Epic Games says its store will be open to games created with the competitor's Unity engine and other software tools.
However Epic is still connecting its own tools: For games created with Unreal, Epic says it will remove all royalties from Unreal for sales generated through the store.
"As developers, we wanted two things: a store with a fair economic system and a direct relationship with the players," said developer Tim Sweeney, founder of Epic Games, on the company's website.
Epic Games recognizes the efforts of content creators
Epic is also implementing something called the Support-A-Creator program next to the store, Sweeney said.
The program connects developers with 10,000+ content creatorssuch as YouTube video creators and Twitch streamers.
Support-A-Creator rewards creators for highlighting game developer work.
“Epic Games' Support-A-Creator program is key to helping developers bring their products to gamers.
Content creators such as YouTube video creators, Twitch gamers, cosplayers, community creators, and bloggers have become key influencers in gaming… - Commented Tim Sweeney
Previously, most creators were not compensated by game developers for their work and instead had to rely on donations.
By combining creators with developers, the Epic Games Store makes it easy for gamers to discover games and rewards content creators for their efforts.
“There are currently more than 10,000 content creators on the show, with tens of millions of followers and that number is growing every day.