In a lengthy Twitter thread, players slammed Sweeney for recruiting game developers to offer their games exclusively to the Epic Games Store. Sweeney is well aware of the fact that the decision to offer exclusive games is being met with strong resistance, especially to hardcore Steam users, who prefer to use a single launcher to manage their game libraries. However, Sweeney explained that the payout terms of major digital storefronts are a “disastrous situation for developers and publishers alike,” also citing that Epic’s exclusivity move is necessary.
Epic Games’ CEO explained his thoughts regarding the controversy saying that Epic’s goal with the exclusivity strategy is to make a big enough impact in the gaming industry that would prompt major digital stores such as Steam to offer better payout terms than the current 30/70 revenue split. If successful, Sweeney believes that this would result in better game development as costs for distribution would dramatically decrease, giving developers more means to reinvest finances in the actual development of video games.
Of course, the grievances of those criticizing the Epic Games Store makes a lot of sense, especially since some users reported that Epic’s launcher lacked features and is sometimes buggy. However, Epic’s goal to shake up the industry and force major digital storefronts to offer better profit sharing to developers would ultimately benefit gamers in the end, given that creators would be in a better financial situation to offer better games to consumers.
Source: Tim Sweeney-Twitter
