While the servers, the electricity, and the physical space likely cost a big 'ol chunk of millions too - most of that money is licensing money to folks to give out their game in giveaways and the like.
But that's the Epic Store bank account.
The other side is the licensing for the Unreal Engine.
You know those Epic store exclusives the store largely trades in - developers get those for using the Unreal engine.
And no - they're probably not making a ton of money off those indies - but they are seeding the industry with Unreal engine developers, used to the lack of many limitations that say, Unity might have.
It's a pretty reasonable path given the market they're in.
It's just a little out of whack if you're just looking at it as competing as a storefront with Steam.
Really - they also just want Steam to lower it's cut of digital game income, so the market itself becomes a bit more fluid, in a percentage sense.
But the whole reason Steam's cut is so big is because they set themselves up to be a mirror of physical stores. If Steam went along to lower that cut, it would shift the balance harder away from physical/console licensing... which isn't the kind of aggressive stance Steam prefers to engage in compared to other platforms, even though they very much could and be far more comfortable than the other companies after everything settles.
In any case - Epic Store isn't really hurt by being second banana in this whole trade. Their niche isn't really for being a storefront - but keeping the Unreal developer community nicely populated with a wide base of developers. And they're doing that just fine, whatever Steam chooses.
but they are seeding the industry with Unreal engine developers
Unreal has been one of the most dominant game engines in the industry since the release of the game series it is named after. Epic doesn't need to seed anything on that front.
In the AAA and AA industry, you'd be correct - this and making the engine free for general use (until a certain income), is to get the upcoming generations of developers to consider it for their initial projects.
For a while, it did look like job opportunities were going in the Unity direction, and Unreal jobs were kind of drying up too.
So - I at least think there's reasons they were feeling pressure to plant more, instead of harvesting all they could.
Ryan Fenton
"Time is money and money can't buy you love and I love your outfit"
- T.H.U.N.D.E.R. #1
Licensing money. (Score:3)
While the servers, the electricity, and the physical space likely cost a big 'ol chunk of millions too - most of that money is licensing money to folks to give out their game in giveaways and the like.
But that's the Epic Store bank account.
The other side is the licensing for the Unreal Engine.
You know those Epic store exclusives the store largely trades in - developers get those for using the Unreal engine.
And no - they're probably not making a ton of money off those indies - but they are seeding the industry with Unreal engine developers, used to the lack of many limitations that say, Unity might have.
It's a pretty reasonable path given the market they're in.
It's just a little out of whack if you're just looking at it as competing as a storefront with Steam.
Really - they also just want Steam to lower it's cut of digital game income, so the market itself becomes a bit more fluid, in a percentage sense.
But the whole reason Steam's cut is so big is because they set themselves up to be a mirror of physical stores. If Steam went along to lower that cut, it would shift the balance harder away from physical/console licensing... which isn't the kind of aggressive stance Steam prefers to engage in compared to other platforms, even though they very much could and be far more comfortable than the other companies after everything settles.
In any case - Epic Store isn't really hurt by being second banana in this whole trade. Their niche isn't really for being a storefront - but keeping the Unreal developer community nicely populated with a wide base of developers. And they're doing that just fine, whatever Steam chooses.
Ryan Fenton
Re: (Score:2)
but they are seeding the industry with Unreal engine developers
Unreal has been one of the most dominant game engines in the industry since the release of the game series it is named after. Epic doesn't need to seed anything on that front.
Unity is the newcomer seeking developers.
Re: (Score:2)
In the AAA and AA industry, you'd be correct - this and making the engine free for general use (until a certain income), is to get the upcoming generations of developers to consider it for their initial projects.
For a while, it did look like job opportunities were going in the Unity direction, and Unreal jobs were kind of drying up too.
So - I at least think there's reasons they were feeling pressure to plant more, instead of harvesting all they could.
Ryan Fenton