In this week’s most genius PR move, Tim Sweeney has told the internet that the Epic Games Store won’t make any more controversial exclusive deals if Valve matches the company’s 88 percent revenue share with vendors, adding that Steam’s PC sales monopoly is the “#1 problem” in the industry. At the moment, Valve’s split banks 70 percent to vendors, keeping 30 percent of income to feed Gabe (or whatever).
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
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
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
Besides its ostensible advocacy for game developers, publishers, and consumers, this also conveniently puts blame on Valve for Epic’s future exclusive deals. It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for him.