According to a recent survey of 3,000 game developers in North America and Europe, the tide of protest against Steam is rising. Most comments indicate that Steam is too greedy to set up a 3/7 split (i.e., Steam will pocket 30% of game sales even though it contributes nothing to the development process).
Of the 3,000 respondents, only 3% think they agree with Steam’s 30% fee. 43% expect this number to fall from 10-15%. Most of the respondents said that Epic Games Store is 12% more attractive and reasonable.
Moreover, Steam does not provide any incentives for game developers. Look at Epic, in addition to the very low rates, they also have a great incentive policy for game makers. The platform uses a “hand” to convince partners, in addition to reducing service fees, to negotiate with manufacturers on the exclusive release of games in the Epic Store. This amount, known as the “exclusive fee”, is passed on to Epic Store makers regardless of game sales.
Epic Games Store charges a lot less than Steam
As an example of control, Epic spent $ 10.45 million (VND 240 billion) to pay exclusive fees for 505 games and remedy entertainment for its makers. Of these, 505 games are 45% owned and the rest are owned by Remedy Entertainment.
Likewise, we now understand why the producers agreed to partner with the Epic Games Store. With a very low service fee of 12% (which would be 30% with Steam), Epic Partners will receive an additional exclusive fee. In terms of total revenue, the partnership with Epic Store will be very profitable compared to Steam or other platforms. This is the main reason why many game developers do not hesitate to “expel” Steam to “return to the Epic Games Store team”.
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