After announcing its existence on 4 December, the Epic Games Store has now launched, during the 2018 Game Awards.
One of the big selling points of the Epic Games Store is the smaller cut that Epic takes before a user’s money gets to the game’s developer. Instead of taking a 30% cut (something Steam initially takes), the Epic Store takes 12%, a far more appealing deal. It will also refrain from installing digital rights management (DRM) software on anything sold through the store, much like rival GOG.
This allows users more control of how they play their games, rather than forcing them to go through their storefront or desktop client as traditional versions like Steam or publisher-owned platforms like Origin or Uplay do.
Although Epic will now only sell the PC version of its games through the Store, it’s more than just a way of accessing Fortnite or Unreal Tournament. There is already a small variety of new exclusive games available now on the platform, which are:
- Hades: an early-access dungeon crawler made by Supergiant Games, makers of hit action games Bastion, Transistor and Pyre,
- Ashen: a mysterious action RPG (think Dark Souls and you’re probably not too far off), where the only solace in a crumbling world is the allies you make as you venture forth
- Hello Neighbor: Hide and Seek: a prequel to suburban horror game Hello Neighbor, showing the backstory of the original game’s antagonist, the Neighbor.
Coming to the store soon are the games Outer Wilds, Man Eater, World War Z, Rebel Galaxy Outlaw, Satisfactory, and Genesis Alpha One. There will no doubt be many more after that, as Epic have stated they will be opening the store up to other developers more through 2019.
Epic is also promising a free game every two weeks for its users. The first will be Subnautica, available between 14 and 27 December 2018, and the second Super Meat Boy, between 28 December 2018 and 10 January 2019.
