Following its major courtroom victory over Apple earlier this week, Epic Games has announced upcoming changes to the Epic Games Store aimed at enticing more developers to use it, and putting a little bit of a thumb in Apple's eye in the process.
The first change is a reduction in the amount of money Epic takes from developers on its storefront. Epic currently takes 12% of revenues from sales on the storefront, significantly lower than most others: Steam, for instance, takes 30% on the first $10 million of revenues earned, 25% once the $10 million mark is surpassed, and 20% on anything beyond $50 million. Under the new scheme, Epic will take nothing on the first $1 million in revenues earned per app per year, after which its usual 12% cut will kick in.
This is a pretty big deal for smaller, indie developers. Valve took some heat when it adjusted its revenue share formula in 2018 because it clearly favored big publishers and major successes; Epic's shift comes at it from the other end, offering a boon to makers of games that aren't runaway hits.
Along with the adjusted revenue split, Epic is also adding a new feature that will enable developers to launch their own "webshops" on the Epic Games Store. And why would they want to do that?
"These webshops can offer players out-of-app purchases, as a more cost-effective alternative to in-app purchases, where Apple, Google, and others charge exorbitant fees," Epic said. "With new legal rulings in place, developers will be able to send players from games to make digital purchases from webshops on any platform that allows it, including iOS in the European Union and United States."
Epic Games Store will take 0% on the first $1,000,000 of payments we process per game per year (vs 15% for Apple), and 12% after that (vs 30% for Apple).Next month, we launch EGS Webshops for out-of-app purchases, as an alternative to in-app purchases.https://t.co/yTufyZbiqRMay 1, 2025
The issue of in-app purchases were at the center of the legal fight Epic picked with Apple five years ago: Epic decided it wasn't going to pay Apple's 30% cut on Fortnite purchases and added its own payment processing option to the Fortnite app, and Apple reacted entirely predictably.
Epic lost that battle, but five years and some unexpected twists later, it's finally won itself a compromise: Apple has been told unequivocally that it can't stop iOS app developers from linking to out-of-app web payment forms, and can't charge commission fees on those out-of-app purchases. Now Epic is opening the door to all developers to sell their stuff without paying Apple's big fees.
To sweeten the pot further, any purchases made through Epic's webshops will earn 5% in Epic Rewards, which can be put toward other purchases on the Epic Store. It's not a huge amount, but if you're buying a bunch of stuff anyway and the choice is to get 5% or get nothing, well, that seems like pretty easy math to me.
Epic's updated revenue share and webshops are both set to go live sometime in June.
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