Epic Games CEO Says They'd Stop Exclusivity Deals if Valve Changed Their Share

Published: April 25, 2019 1:40 PM /

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epic games store ceo

Epic Games CEO and Founder Tim Sweeney has stated that the company would put an end to Epic Games Store exclusives if Valve were willing to lower their revenue share. When the Epic Games Store was first announced, the fine folks who created the Unreal Engine and Fortnite stated that it would only have a 12% revenue share. They've held the course since then, and Epic Games has also been securing exclusivity deals with games both small and large in the interim.

The exclusivity deals have attracted a measure of disappointment and anger from some fans who were anticipating upcoming games making their way to Steam, but Epic Games Store CEO Tim Sweeney says that they could conceivably go away under one condition: Valve has to lower their revenue share as well.

"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," Mr. Sweeney said on Twitter. "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."

Steam lowered their revenue share in November of 2018 for certain qualifying games. However, even the best case scenario of a 20% revenue share on Valve's part requires that a game makes $50 million or more in sales. That is still a fair few percentage points off from Epic Games' universal 12% revenue share.

We can't say for sure whether or not Valve will take the Epic Games CEO up on his off-the-cuff offer. If they do, Mr. Sweeney says that they will stand by any existing deals but otherwise halt the process of securing PC exclusives.

What do you think of the deal outlined by Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney? Do you think Valve should lower their revenue share? If so, should it be to 12%? Let us know in the comments below!

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