The Outer Worlds and Control will launch on the Epic Store, not Steam

During its GDC 2019 Unreal keynote this morning, Epic announced that it has partnered with Take-Two Interactive's Private Division label to distribute The Outer Worlds and Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey on the Epic Games Store. PC Gamer has learned that The Outer Worlds will also release on the Microsoft Store, but will not appear on other stores on PC for at least a year—that includes Steam.

The Outer Worlds quickly became one of the most-anticipated games after its announcement in December, an "exuberantly sci-fi" FPS RPG hybrid from some of the original creators of Fallout. In some ways it represents the biggest get so far for Epic's growing platform. Wes played it in December, saying "the setting has an invigorating freshness and personality to it for this type of game, and I think it's high time we got a campier, more sarcastic Firefly to Mass Effect's wannabe Star Trek."

Control will be an Epic Store exclusive, too. Control is a surreal third-person shooter from Max Payne and Quantum Break developer Remedy, and Andy's enthusiastic preview from last year makes it sound like a promising return to form for one of the most interesting studios in gaming. Quantic Dream's previous PlayStation-exclusive trio of Detroit: Become Human, Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls are also coming to the PC for the first time, exclusively to Epic Store.

In addition, Epic announced that Ubisoft will continue to release games on the Epic Store after The Division 2—the specific games are yet to be announced—and that it's snagged a few other high-profile games: Afterparty, The Sinking City, and Industries of Titan. Epic also mentioned that Epic Store exclusives will be purchasable through The Humble Store as another option for customers.

Epic's strategy of challenging Steam by negotiating for exclusives has been controversial, but clearly plenty of developers are happy to make a deal with the Fortnite and Unreal Engine creator and leverage the favorable 88/12 revenue split currently offered on Epic.

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Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.