The Epic Games Store is now itch.io app on its platform and the Fortnite creators do not plan on taking revenue from the smaller market’s games. Itch.io, an indie game-focused digital distributor, made news in summer 2020 with its Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, which made $2.4 million after just a few days. Despite this impressive achievement, the storefront rarely shares the spotlight with larger companies in the industry like the Epic Games Store. Today’s news means that the two stores will be unconventionally linked, as Epic Games Store users will be able to pick up Itch.io in the bigger distributor’s store.
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Epic Games’ financial status, and money matters relating to the the Epic Games Store, as been a recent hot topic. Earlier this month, reports began to surface that the company had spent hundreds of millions of dollars on making the store enticing to players with free games and exclusivity deals in order to compete with Steam. Right after as this seemingly damning information hit, however, Epic Games received a round of funding which rapidly dispelled any concerns about the company’s future. The total investments by other tech companies totaled over a billion dollars, with Sony pledging two hundred million to Epic. According to Epic, the PlayStation creator’s generous support serves to strengthen the “close relationship between the two companies.”
Reporting on itch.io’s debut on the Epic Games Store, Polygon breaks down the implications of a store being available on a technical competitor’s platform, including why Epic will not take a share of the games’ profits. That’s a point Mitch Dyer highlighted further in a tweet, focusing on the benefits this situation will give to smaller creators who would otherwise go unseen on itch.io’s own launcher and website. Even better, the deal will ensure they enjoy the Epic Games Store exposure without losing revenue to a middleman.
Epic Games has been getting close with indies recently, as the corporation behind the Epic Games Store has just acquired Fall Guys creator Mediatonic. The deal was announced just before the silly competitive multiplayer game released its latest season, which launches its obstacle courses into the future.
This collaboration between the Epic Games Store and itch.io is notable for a lot of reasons, but the fact that Epic is not taking a cut of the games’ sales is certainly one of them. Since its launch, the Epic Games Store has been aggressively making moves to increase its value and attract players. Though it doesn’t match that bullish image, it appears putting another storefront inside of its own store (however unusual it seems) will help further that goal. Ultimately, the real winners in all of this are indie games and their developers, so long as players are willing to give them a chance.
Source: Polygon, Mitch Dyer/Twitter
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