Recently, Epic boss Tim Sweeney was interviewed by foreign media The Verge and talked about multiple topics including the Epic store. When the reporter asked whether the Epic Store would be just a game store or an app store, Sweeney said that it is a store operated by Epic Games, which already has many non-game products, such as the Brave browser, Unreal Engine creation tools, etc., and they can put any application that anyone wants.
Sweeney believes they can forge closer partnerships and create more opportunities in gaming that will be as open to everyone on Android as they are on PC. The goal of the Epic Store is to compete with Steam, break its monopoly, and allow developers to obtain higher game income. The Steam platform's commission ratio is 30%, which increases the cost of the game by 300-400%, while Epic's commission ratio is 12%. Games created using Unreal Engine can also be exempted from Unreal Engine's 5% licensing fee.
Over the years, Epic has attracted a large number of users by regularly giving away free games. Although the Epic Store is still not profitable, Sweeney told The Verge that the Epic Store has been a huge success and is quickly catching up with Steam.
Sweeney said: "We have attracted many players in many ways through Fortnite, and the same is true for the Epic Store, and we continue to invest heavily. Since the Epic Store launched in 2018, we now have 80 million monthly active players, and Steam has 120 million. We are catching up with it quickly!"
When the reporter asked if he planned to continue to adopt the model of exclusive games on the Epic store, Sweeney said that he was adopting a "very radical" model, hinting that more exclusive games would be launched soon. "No, we're in a different mode, which is a very aggressive chase mode," he said.