The Epic Games Store is, by now, infamous for its snagging of timed exclusives. Indie game developers and big name publishers also appear to be lining up to have their games be Epic exclusives. And now, it may be a little clearer as to why that’s the case.
Twitter user Daniel Ahmad shared what appears to be a financial statement for Digital Bros, as of 30 June 2019. That’s the parent company of 505 Games, which publishes Control, a game developed by Remedy Entertainment. From the statement, the game already made EUR9.49 million (~RM43.65 million), despite the game only launching on 27 August.
PC Games Insider also reports that the development budget for Control is somewhere between EUR20 million and EUR30 Million. This means that Epic Games paid between a third to nearly half the game’s development cost for EGS exclusivity. This is not yet counting the guarantee of sales to match the game’s potential sales figures on Steam.
With that kind of money on the table, it’s understandable why some developers take the exclusivity deal. One even said that doing so was a no brainer. With a few notable exceptions, that seems to be the common developer and publisher consensus.
The financial security may guarantee the success of the game, and may also massively improve the chance of a sequel. But on the flip side, it may also serve to make developers complacent with updates and bug fixes, as they no longer need to actually sell games.
(Source: Digital Bros [PDF] via Daniel Ahmed / Twitter, PC Games Insider via Metro UK, Destructoid. Image: Epic Games Store)
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