Developers can now self-publish their games on the Epic Games Store, the Fortnite and Rocket League publisher’s storefront for PC games. It’s a milestone for the store, as it has steadily gained features over recent years to better compete with Steam. It could be a big deal for some developers, too, as it simplifies the process to publish and find a new — and possibly, bigger — audience than they might on Steam’s very crowded homepage, which sells a mix of games and Valve’s own Steam Deck.
Epic’s requirements for game submissions differ from Steam’s in one big way: by requiring that online multiplayer games support PC cross-play. In other words, the Epic Games Store release of a game must entitle you to play it online with people who own it via other stores, like Steam or through the Xbox PC app.
It’s ultimately a good thing to enforce this from a consumer perspective, even though it’s likely a lot of work for developers to implement. Arkane Studios is setting a good example, as it recently announced that Redfall will support cross-play on PC, and is going a step further with cross-platform support between PC and Xbox consoles.
Like Valve’s Steam, Epic asks for a one-time $100 fee to self-publish a game (alternatives like itch.io remain free), although the revenue split with the Epic Game Store shakes out more in the developer’s favor compared to Steam. Epic collects 12% of revenue from games sold, compared to Steam’s much higher (but relatively industry standard) 30% revenue share for most games. In 2018, Steam adjusted parts of its revenue sharing plan, rewarding top sellers earning beyond $10 million a larger cut of the revenue.
Epic also announced its Year in Review 2022 results, where it shared that the 99 free games it gave away last year were worth $2,240. It also confirmed that it will continue to give away free games in 2023. So, that means my colleague Owen Good will continue telling you about the new games each week.
Cameron Faulkner
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