Epic Games Leans Into Indie Games and Social Features at Unreal Fest

[Cpt.Jank]

At the opening event of the Unreal Fest in Seattle, Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, addressed the recent commercial failures of ambitious, citing a "generational change" in the gaming landscape as part of the reason for their failures. Epic Games seemingly wants to address this shift in gamer priorities by relying more on in-game social features, although there was also a strong emphasis on getting indie game developers to sign on to use the Unreal Engine and the Epic Games Store.

In the same presentation, Epic Games announced a new collaboration between the Epic Games Store and Unreal Engine that should make it easier and more affordable for small development teams to market and publish their games to Epic Games and other storefronts. The new launch program, called Launch Everywhere with Epic, reduces Epic's revenue cut for any games developed with Unreal Engine and published on the Epic Games Store before or at the same time as any other platforms. Epic also announced new "indie spaces" for indie developers to share knowledge and make industry connections.



Addressing the shift in the gaming community, Sweeney spoke about the recent success of Fortnite, citing a new record peak of 110 million active users as part of the reason for his comments. He goes on to say that Epic is seeing "a real trend where players are gravitating toward the really big games where they can play with more of their friends." At the same time, however, Epic Games is furthering its push into the indie game scene.

Launch Everywhere with Epic allows developers to reduce the cost of game distribution by reducing Epic's Unreal Engine revenue share from 5% to 3.5% when developers publish their Unreal Engine games on the Epic Games Store and other game stores simultaneously. This move may also help Epic Games in its seemingly never-ending war on Apple. In a press release about the program, Epic specifically mentions that the game must be available via the Epic Games Store on all of its intended platforms to qualify for the discount—for example, if developers are planning on publishing on Android and iOS, their game must be available for those platforms via the EGS if it is also on the Play Store and App Store.

On January 1, 2025 we are introducing Launch Everywhere with Epic. Through this program we are offering a royalty rate reduction from 5% to 3.5% on all platforms and stores for eligible Unreal Engine games published on the Epic Games Store from 2025 onwards. You are eligible for this rate reduction if you ship your game on the Epic Games Store before or at the same time you release it on other stores on corresponding platforms you support (PC, Mac, Android, and in the future, iOS). This is inclusive of games participating in Epic First Run.

The so-called indie spaces consist of a handful of forums on the Epic Dev Community, which Epic Games promises will provide resources and support for small developers, including tutorials, news, and guidance from seasoned game developers.

• Easily find fellow indies on a dedicated forum.
  We're making it easier for indies to find one another. The Indies forum is your go-to location to ask and answer questions, show off your work, and get inspiration from like-minded people. We'll be there as well. Look out for future AMAs, Office Hours on Discord, and opportunities to engage with Epic teams and industry partners.
  
• Get news, events, and resources—all in one location.
  We know that indies are juggling a lot. That's why we rolled out a single destination to curate the latest news, events, and developer resources to help you find what you need, faster. Just a sneak peek into what's coming up: catch the developers of Atre: Dominance Wars speak on our Inside Unreal livestream; meet the Epic team at Unreal Fest Seattle; get the inside scoop from the solo dev of The Axis Unseen; and so much more.
  
• Check out the learning library, and develop your own tutorials
  Whether you're a seasoned developer or making your first game, there's always something to learn. The Epic Developer Community has over 4,000 learning posts—and it's growing fast, thanks to the community's contributions. Learn something new and contribute your own insights to the indie community by creating your own tutorial, or dev diaries.
  
• When you're ready, we would love to hear about your projects
  Getting your project out there can be challenging, especially for small teams. We want to hear about your projects and see how Epic may be able to lend a hand to the most promising titles. If you'd like to be considered for assistance, head over to the Dev Portal to tell us more about your game.

Watch the full Unreal Fest Seattle 2024 keynote below for all the details:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/live/KYGEfQJPqW8]

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[nomdeplume]

... in which we miss by a long stretch the real news surrounding EGS being their considerable size and duration of attacks against some of the worlds largest tech corporations. A leading factor in their business strategy increasingly forcing mobile store implementation.

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www.epicgames.com

 

[eidairaman1]

And no Unreal Series Game to Be Found, friggin shameful

 

[HisDivineOrder]

So they're providing forums for the developers but having the customers go to Steam's forums? Heh.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Not really sure what this news is doing for anyone or how it will change any of the dynamics out there.

If a game is on Steam or EGS I'll buy it on Steam.

If a game is on Play/App store or EGS I'll buy it on the Play/App store.

If something is only on EGS, I won't even know it exists until it actually for real releases patched up and at a discount on my store of choice.

EGS is far behind the curve in terms of features and usability for the end user, people already have their preferred platforms where they have most of their stuff.

Unless EGS offers the end user something better than the established players, it will always be a me too store.

 

[Onasi]

I kinda can’t wait for Fortnite money train to run out so that Epic is forced to make the walk of shame and euthanize the EGS already. Sadly, unlikely to happen in near future and the UE dominance also helps them. And hey, even if all starts crashing down, I am sure daddy Tencent will bail them out.

 

[ZeppMan217]

I guess this is Epic's answer to Steam's Next Fest.

 

[kawice]

Competition is good, so I hope EGS will sort out whatever financial issues they have.

As for Devs switching from Unity to Unreal Engine it's only in favor to gamers, we'll get better games that way.
Unity is rusty old garbage. I played quite a few games that runs like a$$ on Unity engine.

 

[TechLurker]

Epic is probably capitalizing on the Godot Engine drama where some unnecessary political activism has caused friction with some devs using it, as well as Unity's continued exodus of users despite walking back most of their changes, but still keeping tweaked versions of it.

Enticing more Indies to go the Unreal route would get Unreal Engine in even more pies that Godot was also targeting.

 

[529th]

The only way this idiot tims weeny can redeem himself in my eyes is if he puts resources into a new Unreal Tournament game.

 

[Vayra86]

... in which we miss by a long stretch the real news surrounding EGS being their considerable size and duration of attacks against some of the worlds largest tech corporations. A leading factor in their business strategy increasingly forcing mobile store implementation.

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www.epicgames.com

Indeed, and that's Tim fighting the good fight.

And its not just mobile stores, its gatekeeping in a broader sense, digital distribution as a whole, really. The rules of the game are fucked and need fixing. Apparently judges tend to agree.