Epic Games is trying to secure more exclusive titles for its PC storefront with its latest proposals to third-party developers. The company is offering the makers of eligible games and apps 100 percent of net revenue for six months. After the exclusivity window ends, developers and publishers will still take away 88 percent of their projects’ revenue, with Epic receiving a cut of 12 percent.
An Epic spokesperson clarified to Engadget that net revenue the developers and publishers receive doesn’t include things like taxes and refunds. Epic covers payment processing and CDN fees, as well as other marginal payments.
The company, which says its launcher and store has 68 million monthly active users, will also give participants of the Epic First Run program extra exposure to get their wares in front of more eyes. The games and apps will receive “exclusive” badging and spots on the homepage. Epic will include them in various collections and promotions too.
The program will be open to developers and publishers who are releasing eligible products on or after October 16th. A product will be eligible if it hasn’t appeared on another third-party PC store or subscription services on said storefronts. Games and apps that already have exclusivity deals with Epic aren’t eligible.
Developers and publishers will still be able to sell games and apps that are included in the program directly to users via their own launchers and websites. They can also list their products on stores such as Green Man Gaming and Humble Store via the Epic Games Store’s keyless redemption program.
Epic already offered developers and publishers a more generous split of game and app sales than the likes of Valve, which takes a 30 percent cut of Steam sales. The promise of vacuuming up all net revenue for six months and getting extra promotion on the Epic Games Store might be compelling enough for more developers and publishers to take the exclusivity plunge there.
Update, August 23rd, 2023, 3:13PM ET: The story has been updated with a clarification from Epic as to what net revenue entails.
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