More than six years have passed since Epic began to change the distribution of income of 30 % of Steam for developersrequesting only 12 % of sales at its then new Epic games Store. Now, Epic goes even further by reducing those rates to zero for the first million dollars in annual sales of a game.
The newly announced rates structure will enter into force in Juneaccording to Epic, and will apply to the income of a developer “By application”. After the first million dollars in annual sales, the royalties will be charged with the usual 12 % rate for being listed in the Epic Games Store.
Taking care of the little ones?
This is not the first time that Epic offers a financial advantage to smaller developers.
In 2011, the company resigned from Royalties payments For the former $ 50,000 in sales of projects created with the then new Unreal Development Kit. By 2020, that period of grace without royalties for projects with Unreal Engine was extended to cover the First million dollars in sales for life of a project.
The Epic approach at the lower end of the video game income scale is something like the opposite of the Royalties de Valve structure in Steam. In 2018, Valve reduced its default distribution from 30% to 25%, but only for gains for play exceeding $ 10 million in sales for life. The Valve rate drops again at 20 % when a game reaches $50 million in sales for life.
This “best treatment approach for great developers” especially caused the wrath of the Epic Games CEO, Tim Sweeneyshortly after your ad.
Right now, you, bastards, are telling the world that strong and powerful get special conditions, while 30% is for small people. We are ready for a prolonged battle if Apple tries to maintain its monopoly and 30% cutting agreements behind the scenes with large editors to keep them silent. Why not give all developers a better treatment?
Tim Sweeney, CEO de Epic Games
The first years of the Epic Games Store were characterized by an approach “Hand cured” In its catalog of games, focusing on consolidated and exclusive developers to attract new customers to the store. However, in 2023, Epic officially opened the store to self -publishingallowing an avalanche of hundreds of smaller games, such as Fell in Love with Coser 4 y Vacation Adventures: Park Ranger 17 Collectors Editionto name just some of the recent and near the Epic Games Store.
Although Epic will certainly lose a lot of income under this new royalties structure, the company has long demonstrated a disposition to Invest great sums of money in the Epic Games Store To try to obtain a position against Steam’s almost monopoly in the distribution of PC games.
And although Epic Games Store managed to attract more than $1,000 million in customer spending in 2024that figure stays well below $10.8 billion of Steam during the same year.
That must be at least A little disappointing for Epicconsidering that the company stayed well below its first hopes to capture between 35 % and 50 % of the PC game market for 2024.
