Epic Games have announced their new Epic First Run program, to entice more developers to release on their store exclusively and give developers a boost. With this we can expect to see many more developers opt to go Epic exclusive.
The Epic First Run program will give developers 100% of the revenue, so Epic Games will not take a cut from sales on the Epic Games Store for the first 6 exclusive months. It's opt-in for developers and does not prevent them from selling it directly and selling it using keys via the likes of Green Man Gaming, Humble Store and other stores that sell keys. Naturally, this rules out Steam and GOG, which is largely the point of it to get more people to shop on the Epic Store and not Steam.
After the 6 month exclusive period is up, developers can then release elsewhere and the revenue split goes back to 88% for developers and 12% to Epic Games.
Epic also mention that they now have over 68 million monthly active users with over 230 million players. To help get word out, developers who opt into the Epic First Run program will get "new exclusive badging, homepage placements, and dedicated collections" along with features in "elevant store campaigns including sales, events, and editorial as applicable".
See Epic's announcement here.
What do you think to this news?
On Linux and Steam Deck, you can use the likes of the Heroic Games Launcher to really simplify getting games from Epic since they still do not officially support either with the Epic Store.
In related news Denuvo are rolling out some special protection for Unreal Engine games.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
What a stupid time to be a
One may not take Valve seriously for the Steam Deck and SteamOS. But you can also see a strategy in this. I don't see anything at all with Epic. The best thing for them economically would be to withdraw completely from the PC and concentrate entirely on consoles and smartphones. That's where they earn their money.
Quoting: LuticusEpic, in my opinion, actually actively hurt Linux when it first launched because of it's exclusivity deals. Games that were going to release on Steam with Linux support, Afterparty as an example, ended up going to Epic as an exclusive for like a year instead with NO Linux support.They also don't offer the Linux versions for games that already have them! I submitted an article to GOL about a native Linux game a little while back, and when I was writing down which stores it was available from, I had to leave out Epic because they only sell the Windows version.
Quoting: Blender-samaAs much as I like Valve I think compitition is good.
How is it competition? Who benefits from it?
rustybroomhandle Aug 23, 2023
Quoting: PenglingThey also don't offer the Linux versions for games that already have them! I submitted an article to GOL about a native Linux game a little while back, and when I was writing down which stores it was available from, I had to leave out Epic because they only sell the Windows version.
I think I would be more tolerant of Epic if they built in a loop hole for platforms they don't support. Like the Windows version is exclusive, but you can still put Linux and Mac version on steam. If they did that, It would be a bit nicer as it would encourage native Linux support in games. I still wouldn't buy their stuff though, no Tux no bux, hard pass.
However, third-party exclusivity is just all-around anti-consumer if you ask me. I'll never support it, especially when done so aggressively like Epic has done. It's literally the only thing they do to compete on EGS, restricting the PC games market rather than adding to it, and I absolutely can not support them at all for that.
Last edited by Aimela on 23 August 2023 at 5:23 pm UTC
Mohandevir Aug 23, 2023
On the other hand, devs already got 88%... So 100% is just 12% more of what was before... And you must trade your freedom for that by limiting yourself to the Epic Game Store, which is totally dwarfed by Steam. I'm not sure it would mean more money, not to release on Steam, on day-1. Better to take the 88% and release on both platforms, imo.
Personally, I don't care much. Never used EGS and will never use it. I put my money where my mouth is and with all that EGS crap (exclusivity deals) and because of the character, I despise Tim Sweeney and Epic Games. Not going to get a penny from me.
Edit: Anyway, the experience as proven me, time and again, that waiting for the end of the deal, when it releases on Steam, is an excellent idea. When it happens, the game his patched and is in a much better state... Sometimes with a discount on top of that!
Last edited by Mohandevir on 23 August 2023 at 7:14 pm UTC
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