Epic Games has announced the launch of a ‘First Run’ program to pay video game developers 100% of the revenue they earn in the digital store. A change in strategy that will surely force other platforms like Steam (or Apple) to make a move

Video games move an impressive amount of money. The world’s number one entertainment company easily surpasses the combined revenues of film and music its importance extends far beyond the boundaries of gamesas more and more personal computers, components, peripherals and accessories are sold under the brand name Playingas we see it this week at Gamescom 2023.

The sector is also putting a lot of money into professional production machines or data centers to keep large online platforms and cloud and/or on-demand startups growing. A simple example of sector relevance is 69,000 million dollars How much is Microsoft willing to pay for Activision Blizzard?

Epic Games for Steam

Large digital software stores are another relevant part of the equation and they have thousands of developers uploading their games to tens and tens of millions of users. Steam, the digital distribution platform of Valve Corporation, has won the favor of a significant number of players and, due to the number of users and revenues, has become a real reference in the sector when it comes to the purchase of games for personal computers.

Of course there are alternatives. One of the strongest is the Epic platform, and now it announces an initiative that will be of great interest to the creator. First Run, which will be available from mid-October, is an attempt to court the developers who They are tired of paying Steam’s 30% fee, an industry standard fee, but many consider it excessive. The Epic Games Store already offers a more generous discount of 12%, but now it will go even further.

In addition to getting all net sales proceedsFirst Run games will get “exclusive badges, homepage placement and dedicated collections”. Products will appear in relevant store campaigns, including sales, events and editorials, as appropriate. Epic is asking for something in return, and it’s exclusivity of the games for six months.

Steam, despite its flaws and 30% of revenue, is the de facto platform for PC gamers, and developers know that when their game is available on both Steam and Epic, the latter represents only a small fraction of revenue.

In any case, an Epic initiative may be of interest to many studies. If one of them releases a big enough game that they know users will buy, but doesn’t have their own store, Epic might be a better sales channel than Steam. We will likely see some companies testing the ground here.

First Run aims to mark a new path in the relationship between creators and digital stores. And it could have ramifications in other sectors, such as mobile software, where Apple’s App Store, the most profitable app store on the planet, is an essential part of Apple’s multibillion-dollar mobile business. And it’s also under fire for its pricing and terms, including complaints from Epic Games.