EGS Has Epic Year in 2019

[Peter_Brosdahl]

Image: Epic Games Store

Epic Games Store certainly proved to be an unexpected contender as a leading online games retailer in 2019. With one exclusive release after another they nabbed a number of AAA titles while ruffling some feathers in the process. They continued to rock the boat with an attractive 88/12 revenue deal to developers that also includes a minimum sales guarantee. At every turn they traded blows with other players on the retail front including a holiday game a day give away plus discounts on other games. We reported on numerous days of those. During the whole year of 2019 they also offered free games every week.

EGS CEO Tim Sweeney and GM Steve Allison sat down with GameDaily.biz and provided an in depth interview reflecting on the successes of 2019. In it Tim Sweeney explains that all of these strategies have led to a 60% higher than expected sales for third party game revenue. They also gained over 108 million PC users joining to generate upwards of $700 million in one year. He also clarifies that Epic pays each developer for their free game giveaways with negotiations to ensure they receive more money for the free week than a potentially normal week of sales. Steve Allison added 90% of their new releases so far have been Epic Exclusives. All of these strategic moves have shown to be successful and they plan to continue with them in 2020.

 

[Grimlakin]

I find that interesting. So the free week payout isn't in volume to the creators but based on a good week otherwise. that leads to some interesting opportunities for Epic. Watch for a game to trend abnormally low throwing off the average then flip it with a free week but also spur some new sales for folks that missed the free week. Makes sense.

 

[Zarathustra]

Meanwhile, I hadn't pirated a video game since the mid 90's until Epic started pulling their exclusivity bullshit, and I felt the need to give them the finger.

2019 was an interesting year in that regard.