Now here is something really interesting. Epic Games’ CEO, Tim Sweeney, has just stated that if Steam commits to a permanent 88% revenue share for all developers and publishers without major strings attached, Epic Games will hastily organize a retreat from exclusives and consider putting its own games on Steam.
If Steam committed to a permanent 88% revenue share for all developers and publishers without major strings attached, Epic would hastily organize a retreat from exclusives (while honoring our partner commitments) and consider putting our own games on Steam.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) April 25, 2019
Sweeney claimed that 30% store dominance is the number 1 problem for PC developers, publishers, and everyone who relies on those businesses for their livelihood, and that Epic Games is trying to address this issues with its own store.
That’s a loaded question! But Epic will stay the course. 30% store dominance is the #1 problem for PC developers, publishers, and everyone who relies on those businesses for their livelihood. We’re determined to fix it and this is the one approach that will effect major change.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) April 24, 2019
Still, and as Sweeney claimed, Epic Games is open to abandon the hunt for new exclusives once – and if – Valve decides to drop its revenue share.
Such a move would be a glorious moment in the history of PC gaming, and would have a sweeping impact on other platforms for generations to come.
Then stores could go back to just being nice places to buy stuff, rather than the Game Developer IRS.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) April 25, 2019
Sweeney then went ahead and explained the key “no major strings attached” points (which I’m pretty sure most PC gamers can agree with).
The key “no major strings attached” points are: games can use any online systems like friends and accounts they choose, games are free to interoperate across platforms and stores, the store doesn’t tax revenue on other stores or platforms (e.g. if you play Fortnite on iOS+PC)…
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) April 25, 2019
More “no major strings attached”: if you play the game on multiple platforms, stuff you’ve bought can be available everywhere; no onerous certification requirements. Essentially, the spirit of an open platform where the store is just a place to find games and pay for stuff.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) April 25, 2019
To be honest, it would be truly awesome if Valve dropped its revenue share and Tim Sweeney does have a point. However, the reason I’d love to see such a thing is because it would be interesting to see whether Tim Sweeney would honour this public statement or not.
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
Contact: Email