Epic Games, best known for Fortnite Battle Royale and Unreal Engine real-time 3D software development. They also license gaming technologies including the Epic Games Store and Fortnite platform.
The Epic Games Store is a digital distribution and storefront service for video game digital downloads. Designed with simplicity in mind, its user-friendly interface offers friend list management as well as low processing footprint.
What is Epic Games?
Epic Games, as a video game developer, creates Unreal Engine software which other developers use to make games. The company also provides a digital distribution platform called the Epic Games Store where you can purchase free-to-play games as well as tools for game creators.
Epic Games was established by Tim Sweeney and is an American video game and software development company with headquarters in Cary, North Carolina. They specialize in developing Unreal Engine, a 3D game engine used by other developers for game creation; as well as producing free-to-play titles like Fortnite and the Unreal Tournament series of shooters. Epic is funded primarily through venture capital investments and boasts over 40 offices globally.
Epic has developed a novel business model, enabling it to generate significant revenues without paying royalties on game sales. Epic generates its income via three main streams of income:
Unreal Engine Licensing: Epic Games generates revenue by licensing its Unreal Engine game engine to other game developers at a percentage of gross sales of games created using it.
Unreal Engine can also be licensed for use in other industries, including film and TV production, automotive design and manufacturing. Furthermore, Epic Games also provides middleware products designed to help game developers optimize their games for both performance and graphical quality.
Fortnite: Epic Games has established themselves as one of the dominant forces in the battle royale genre with their popular game, Fortnite. Offering multiple gameplay modes – including team-based multiplayer mode where players compete to become the last person standing – Fortnite can be found both on PC and console platforms.
Epic Online Services: Epic offers several cloud-based services designed to assist game developers in managing their servers and other aspects of online operations, including the Unreal Cloud which offers secure, reliable hosting of high performance games in an environment designed for maximum gamer enjoyment. In addition, there are middleware tools such as MetaHuman Creator which allows game creators to customize game experiences; such as creating lifelike characters within games.
What is the Epic Games Store?
The Epic Games Store is a digital distribution service and storefront, launched in December 2018 as a rival to Valve’s Steam which had previously dominated the market. Specifically, its main objective is providing more attractive revenue-sharing models to developers while offering gamers an easier purchase experience – it also boasts numerous unique features such as its Friends List and game matchmaking features.
One of the unique characteristics of Epic Games Store is its selection of exclusive titles that can only be purchased there for limited times, which is intended to give Epic an edge against rival store Steam; it has worked, drawing gamers in, although some gamers find exclusives are an unfair form of lockout.
In addition to offering an 88/12 revenue split, Epic Games Store also provides developers who make their game exclusive to it for six months an extra 12% of revenue – much lower than what Google and Apple take from app stores!
Epic Games Store stands out as an indispensable platform due to its support for multiple regions and currencies, currently covering over 230 countries with over 68 million monthly active users – this enables developers to reach a wider audience for their products – an essential factor in today’s gaming climate.
Finally, the Epic Games Store offers customers a variety of payment methods – credit cards, PayPal, and alternative methods such as Apple Pay – all of which may incur additional processing fees that must be covered by customers themselves.
The Epic Games Store allows users to upload, transmit, or otherwise make available additions, enhancements, modifications and other user generated content (collectively “Mods”) for certain video games (as long as these do not violate applicable law or infringe upon any intellectual property rights held by Rightsholders). Furthermore, at any point during its operation the Epic Games Store reserves the right to remove Mods at its own discretion.
What are the benefits of using the Epic Games Store?
The Epic Games Store provides a host of advantages to both gamers and developers. Its massive library boasts critically acclaimed titles alongside lesser-known gems from independent developers. Furthermore, there are exclusive offers and special in-game content available only through this platform; its clean user interface makes buying and playing games simple.
People have often been critical of Epic’s decision to offer games at discounted rates on its platform, but there are actually many advantages for consumers that the store brings. One is its constantly expanding library. Already home to major releases like Control and Metro Exodus as well as indie titles like What The Golf and Falcon Age; indie developers frequently collaborate with Epic to offer exclusive items and early access for certain of its titles as well.
Similarly, the Epic Games Store features an easy and intuitive user experience that makes browsing and purchasing games straightforward. Furthermore, multiple payment methods (credit and debit card) are accepted by this store, while it also provides helpful social features like friend lists and game search. Unfortunately, however, more advanced social and community features available through Steam such as news feeds, group chat, or the ability to gift games remain unavailable here.
Epic Games Store stands out as a particularly helpful platform because of its increased developer royalty rates compared to other digital gaming stores, making this feature particularly important for independent developers who rely heavily on sales of their game for income. This benefit can particularly assist these creators whose survival often depends on sales.
Epic Games Store also provides various promotional tools that can assist developers in the promotion of their games, such as offering promotional codes to those who sign up for its newsletter and creating dedicated landing pages to showcase each title to potential buyers.
Overall, Epic Games Store is an ideal solution for developers who wish to reach a wider audience of gamers. It boasts a sizable user base and offers an abundance of titles – while providing developers with numerous beneficial features that can help their work prosper.
What are the disadvantages of using the Epic Games Store?
Epic Games revealed its take on PC game storefront business models last December, in an attempt to outwit Steam. Epic promised developers just 12 percent of sales from sales made via its storefront as opposed to 30 percent like on Steam; additionally it promised a more curated storefront that wouldn’t allow games to be rated without first consulting with their creators.
However, Steam remains a significant benefit to developers; however the platform still faces some obstacles; for instance, its store does not support all payment methods offered on steam and therefore some individuals in certain countries face higher prices when purchasing games on its platform.
Epic has taken months to bring some of the essential features people expect from digital storefronts – such as social features such as friend lists and multiple game carts at once – to its digital storefront platform, yet these small touches make an impressionful statement about its appeal for gamers who frequently purchase games through Epic; otherwise they could move over to Steam sooner.
Additionally, Epic Games launcher is not as user-friendly as Steam’s; there is no search feature and no way to browse by genre or features; some popular features found on Steam such as wish list function and save games for offline play are absent; plus there are no social features or forums on launcher for users to communicate and discuss favorite titles with each other.
