Epic Games is launching a competitor to Steam, but can it dethrone the king?

By Gabe Gurwin December 4, 2018

Fortnite — Epic Games

Epic Games’ Fortnite is the biggest video game on the planet right now, but the company has its sights set on a much larger piece of the gaming industry pie. The Epic Games store is a new competitor to platforms like Steam and GOG, and it’s offering developers a much larger portion of profits.

More Fortnite Coverage

Launching with games that make use of Epic’s Unreal Engine as well as others engines, including Unity, the Epic Games store will initially launch on PC and Mac. The games will be “hand-curated,” but in 2019 Epic plans to bring more games and “other open platforms” in 2019 — Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney later told Game Informer that Android is coming next year.

Recommended Videos

The attractive part for developers, however, is that the Epic Games store will give them a larger share of profits than competing platforms. Developers will take 88 percent, with Epic taking the other 12, and games made with Unreal Engine will have their engine royalties waived.

Epic Games’ announcement comes just after Valve revealed a new revenue-splitting plan for Steam based on total game revenue. It favors big sellers, with developers getting 75 percent of the revenue for a game that makes more than $10 million. Once it hits $50 million, developers will get an 80 percent share, but that’s still far below what Epic is offering.

The Epic Games store will not feature any sort of store-wide digital rights management system, but developers will be able to enable their own if they chose to do so. This is different from competitor GOG, which advertises its games as being DRM-free.

Much like the Support-A-Creator program in Fortnite, YouTube creators and Twitch streamers will also be able to help grow their channels with a similar program on the Epic Games store. Those purchasing games can do so through a link set up by the creator, or they can manually enter the name of the creator when buying a game. Doing either will result in that person getting a share of the profits, which the developers can set themselves. The first 5 percent is automatically paid by Epic Games for two years.

It’s too early to know of the Epic Games store can be a serious challenger to Steam, but few companies are more prepared for such a task. In the meantime, you can play Fortnite‘s Season 7 content later this week.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

Gaming

7 excellent game deals you can’t miss during Steam’s Xbox publisher sale

Raz runs on a colorful stage in Psychonauts 2.

Like a lot of modern gamers, I'm an Xbox Game Pass subscriber. I get a lot out of the subscription service, using it to play everything from Microsoft's first-party exclusives to smaller indie sensations like Citizen Sleeper. There's just one downside to that: I don't own any games I play on it. If Microsoft decided to pull a game like Forza Horizon 5 one day, I'd have to shell out if I ever wanted to continue my progress. It's a peculiar side-effect to the gaming subscription era, one that still makes me eager to buy any Game Pass title I love.

If you're in the same boat as me, Steam can help. The PC storefront is currently running an Xbox Publisher Sale, which features major discounts on some of Microsoft's biggest titles. From now until May 4, you'll find heavy hitters like Halo Infinite and Gears 5 discounted. What's particularly eye-catching is that tons of excellent games are currently on sale for $20 or less -- with some of Xbox's best exclusives selling for as low as $5. If you're looking to buy some of your favorite Game Pass titles, here are seven deals you should know about (you can grab all of them for just over $86).
Psychonauts 2 -- $20.39

Gaming

How to survive storm phases carrying an Epic weapon in Fortnite

Character jumping while holding Epic weapon in Fortnite.

A new Fortnite challenge for surviving storm phases while carrying an Epic weapon has caused some confusion, as the quest's wording isn't exactly clear. Thankfully, the challenge is much easier than it seems, and once you know what to do, you can get through it relatively quickly. Here's how to survive storm phases while carrying an Epic weapon in Fortnite.
What is an Epic weapon?
Fortnite uses a rarity system with its weapons, which are denoted by colors. Purple weapons are Epic, but keep in mind you can utilize any weapon of higher rarity to complete this quest. As long as the weapon is at least Epic, you'll earn credit for surviving storm phases.
How to get an Epic weapon

There are several ways to get Epic weapons. One way is to simply find one from chests or as floor loot, but this isn't as reliable. You can also purchase Epic weapons from NPCs around the map. Nearly all main hubs have an NPC who sells weapons, so be sure to talk with them if you have the funds. Using an Upgrade Station is another solid option for collecting an Epic weapon, though it's expensive. Another option is to defeat the Highcard Boss found at Brutal Bastion, Shattered Slabs, and Mega City. Upon defeat, the Highcard Boss drops a Mythic Havoc Suppressed Rifle.
How to survive storm phases while carrying an Epic weapon

Gaming

You can get Dying Light: Enhanced Edition for free this weekend

Dying Light screenshot 2

The Epic Games Store is celebrating Easter weekend with some free games. From now until Thursday, April 13, players can get Dying Light: Enhanced Edition for free on PC.

Dying Light is a 2015 first-person survival game that has players killing zombies and parkouring around a city. The Enhanced Edition features extra content, including its 2016 expansion Dying Light: The Following. It's a well-timed freebie considering that it was developed by Dead Island developer Techland, and a sequel to that game launches in just a few weeks (though it's being handled by Dambuster Studios).