The PC master race is on.
Epic Games seems to be holding no punches in its desire to edge out Valve in the PC digital market, as demonstrated by their acquisition of the rights to sell Ubisoft‘s upcoming shooter The Division 2 exclusively on their Epic Games Store on January 9.
This is a first for a Ubisoft game not to be sold on Steam, which traditionally was the main online retailer for PC games until Epic launched their own store which generally provides more revenue for developers with a revenue split of 12%/88%, with the latter figure going to the developer, compared to the 30%/70% split Steam currently offers.
As with all Ubisoft titles, though, The Division 2 will also be sold on their Uplay online store.
Before today, all pre-orders for The Division 2 were made via Uplay, but following Epic Games’ deal with Ubisoft, pre-orders can now be made on the Epic Games Store as well.
Additionally, Epic recently made a deal with Skybound Games to see the recently-revived interactive story The Walking Dead Season 3‘s final two episodes appear exclusively on their store.
However, not all upcoming Ubisoft games will be made exclusive on Epic’s store, as Far Cry New Dawn will still be seeing preorders on Steam.
This does not bode well for Valve and its Steam fans, seeing as Epic Games’ intent on making competition on the PC digital market stiff is clear as day. On the other hand, it seems that developers will get an alternative platform with which to sell their games for more revenue, which is always a good thing if you’re out there churning out games.
But, guess what, Epic won’t be the only one eyeing Steam’s crown as the dominant PC digital retailer. Discord has also now entered the digital market horse race from a mere gaming communication platform to an actual game retailer that provides another lucrative platform for developers, going for a whopping 10%/90% split.
Looks like an epic (pun intended) clash among the PC digital juggernauts is nigh upon us.
Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.
Trinity Sun
Si Jia
