Epic Games has announced that it’s entering the third-party, multi-platform publishing business with a label that aims to put developers at the forefront of the game-making process. The company has already managed to sign on three big hitters – gen DESIGN (The Last Guardian), Remedy (Alan Wake, Control), and Playdead (Inside) – all of which will receive the following incentives.
Full creative freedom and ownership. Developers retain 100% of all intellectual property and full creative control of their work.
Fully-funded projects. Epic Games Publishing will cover up to 100% of development costs, from developer salaries to go-to-market expenses such as QA, localization, marketing, and all publishing costs.
50/50 profit sharing. Developers earn a fair share for their work — once costs are recouped, developers earn at least 50% of all profits.
“We’re building the publishing model we always wanted for ourselves when we worked with publishers,” said Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney.
“gen DESIGN, Remedy, and Playdead are among the most innovative and talented studios in the industry, with strong visions for their next games,” said Hector Sanchez, Head of Epic Games Publishing. “They will have full creative control, while Epic will provide a solid foundation of project funding and services.”
It isn’t clear whether PC titles published under the label will be exclusive to the Epic Games Store, but that seems like a real possibility based on Sweeney’s business practices. Judging by how generous the perks are, developers may not be allowed to release their games on Steam or other digital platforms for at least a year – if at all.