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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.
Tags: Epic Games, Misc
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dpanter Aug 23, 2023
I seem to recall not too long ago we learned that EGS is bleeding money like nobodys business, only thing keeping them afloat is leeching funds from Fortnite profits and of course despicable moves like this. This kind of exclusivity nonsense is insupportable and directly harms the consumers... but what if you're a struggling game developer and this deal is the alternative to financial ruin and starvation?

What a stupid time to be alive gamer.
1xok Aug 23, 2023
I wonder what Epic Games expects from its aggressive strategy in a slowly but surely shrinking PC market. In 20 years there will be no more Windows PCs for gaming. All that will be left are the interfaces (DX), which Apple now also supports.

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.
Luticus Aug 23, 2023
I 100% do NOT buy from Epic games, ever. I sometimes consider buying from GOG, but not often. The reason is simple, no Linux support. Epic, 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. GOG at least releases games with native Linux support, but they don't support Linux with their official GOG galaxy application, so again Linux users get half-hearted support and are left out in the cold with no feature parity. If you want to see Linux gaming to continue to excel, we need to support Steam. They are the only store that actually gives us real, whole-hearted support. I get so tired of these companies forcing the Linux community to take matters in to their own hands so we can use their stuff. If they want my money, they need to support my platform with feature parity. *Mic drop*
Pengling Aug 23, 2023
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.
kuhpunkt Aug 23, 2023
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
So devs get to keep 100% of nothing.
Luticus 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.
Aimela Aug 23, 2023
If they wanted to compete with first/second-party exclusives, adding good features to their platform, and overall being more consumer-friendly; I wouldn't mind Epic so much.

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
I'm not sure it's going to have that much of an impact, anyway. Steam has become unavoidable. Even more with the Steam Deck's success.

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
Klaas Aug 23, 2023
Quoting: kuhpunktHow is it competition? Who benefits from it?
It's the same kind of competition like the enforced split in football TV rights in Germany. Everything is more expansive than before and you still have no choice.
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