- Epic Games is reducing its royalty fee to 3.5% for games created in Unreal Engine and released simultaneously on the Epic Games Store, a program called Launch Everywhere with Epic set to start on January 1st, 2025.
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Epic Games is lowering its royalty fee to 3.5% for games developed in Unreal Engine that are released on the Epic Games Store on the same day, starting January 1st, 2025. This initiative aims to incentivize developers to launch their games on the Epic Games Store immediately, reducing their costs and making the store more appealing to consumers.
Named Launch Everywhere with Epic, this strategy will be applicable on all platforms where the Epic Games Store is available, including Android, PC, and Mac. However, iOS is exempt for now due to Apple’s Core Technology Fee.
If a developer releases an Unreal Engine game on any other platform without a same-day release on the Epic Games Store, the royalty fee will stay at 5%. Additionally, if an Unreal game expands to a new platform without an Epic Games Store release, the fee will revert back to 5%.
Expanding Games Library
In efforts to make the Epic Games Store more appealing to developers and users, Epic currently charges a 5% fee on all lifetime revenue above $1 million for games made with Unreal Engine. However, if Epic is the payment processor for sales on its store, revenue is royalty-free.
The Launch Everywhere with Epic initiative is part of Epic’s ongoing efforts to make the Epic Games Store a competitive platform, especially following the release of the exclusivity program Epic First Run earlier this year.
Participants in Epic First Run will receive 100% of their net revenue from new titles on the Epic Games Store for the first six months after launch, regardless of whether the games are developed in Unreal Engine. After the initial six months, developers will have to give Epic Games 12% of future revenue from the store.
In a statement, Epic Games mentioned, “With the significant pressure on margins in the gaming industry, we are enhancing our engine and store terms to help developers reach larger audiences under more favorable conditions.”
