Epic Games announces change in game royalties for Unreal titles

Epic Games announced today at its Unreal Fest that it is changing its revenue sharing structure for games – or at least, for games made using its Unreal engine. According to Epic, the royalty rate will soon drop from 5% to 3.5%, meaning game creators will be able to keep even more of the money they earn. This only applies to games built with Unreal Engine, and to benefit from this new pricing, publishers must launch their game on day one on the Epic Games Store. The new incentive begins January 1, 2025.

Steve Allison, general manager of the Epic Games Store, announced the new change, saying: “Eligible games will receive a price reduction on all stores, including Steam and all platforms on which you offer your game, and this includes all consoles. This is a powerful incentive for you to activate all the incredible opportunities in the Epic Game Store and benefit from them everywhere.

Allison reminded users that there are other incentives for developers and publishers who choose to put their games on EGS, including its 88/12% revenue share favoring game creators and a royalty rate of 0% for purchases made on the EGS using Epic’s own. payment processor. He also discussed Epic’s First Run program, which allows users to keep 100% of their earnings for the first six months if they launch on Epic’s platform first and remain exclusive during that time.

It’s worth noting that this more favorable royalty rate is launching alongside Unity’s new pricing structure. The other game engine company recently announced that it was dropping its controversial fulfillment fees, but would instead increase the prices of Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise by 8% and 25%, respectively. These new price increases also come into effect on January 1st.