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Epic Games Store Offering Developers 100% Revenue For Six Months Of Exclusivity

JJ Rankin | Aug 25, 8:18 AM | 6 min read

Highlights

Epic Games's new exclusivity scheme will offer developers a 100% revenue share for the first six months if they choose to launch their game exclusively at their store
After the six-month period, the game will revert to the standard Epic Games Store revenue split of 88-12 per cent of the shares
Epic describes the First Run program as 'an opt-in exclusivity program that offers third-party developers 100% net revenue of user spending on eligible products in their first six months of exclusivity on the Epic Games Store'

Epic Games is offering the developers 100 per cent of net revenue for six months if they make their games or apps exclusives for that period through its new First Run program. Epic's standard policy lets developers keep 88 per cent of their revenues, with the company taking a 12 per cent cut. After six months, developers using the First Run program will go back to the 88 / 12 share.

Any game or app released on or after October 16, that hasn’t been previously released on another third-party PC store would be eligible for the program. Participating products will be presented to in-store users with new exclusive badging, and homepage placements and will also be featured in relevant store campaigns including sales, events, and editorials.

Epic confirmed that products in the First Run program can also be released simultaneously on publishers’ and developers’ own stores or launchers with direct sales.

Epic Continues To Bet On Exclusives As Gaming Store Market Heats Up

"Developers and publishers can also use the Epic Games Store’s keyless redemption program to sell on other stores including Green Man Gaming, Humble Store and several others. After the six-month exclusivity period ends, developers are welcome to release their products on other third-party stores, while continuing to benefit from Epic’s 88%12% revenue share," the company's blog post said.

For some years now, Epic has been embroiled in an industry contest, with each brand vying to be the better store. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has continued to push for more transparency and unity across the various game stores. In March, Sweeney had promised some high-profile Epic Games Store exclusives in the future. “We’re really honing our strategy based on what we observed worked really well in previous launches, and what didn’t work really well,” he said during an interview.

“A handful of major exclusives really moved the needle … and the smaller games, especially games that had a smaller audience that was typically on Steam, we found that a lot of those players weren’t willing to move." The program is now open for publishers and developers and Epic has confirmed that 'games or apps with a pre-existing exclusivity deal with the Epic Games Store are not eligible for the program.'