It looks like Epic is expanding beyond its own brand and storefront to begin publishing titles from other developers. Labeled Epic Games Publishing, the goal of the decision is to shake-up the way current developer/publisher relations work in favor of developers. One of the ways Epic is hoping to accomplish this is by letting developers retain the rights and creative decisions to their properties. This alone is a pretty huge deal as historically IP’s stick with publishers even after the dev has moved on. This is why Spyro, Crash, and Halo aren’t with Insomniac, Naughty Dog, and Bungie for example. Another huge help for developers comes from Epic fronting the bill to cover development costs like salaries, Q/A, marketing, publishing, and localization. When a game finally releases, Epic will take the initial profits to recoup the costs they initially put in and after those have been paid developers will see the extra income.
“We’re building the publishing model we always wanted for ourselves when we worked with publishers.”
This is a huge departure from how things traditionally work in the Industry but it sounds just like Epic Games’ strategy since the launch of the Epic Games Store. Developers and publishers alike get a bigger chunk of the change compared to Steam. Alongside the announcement of Epic Games Publishing, the first three games studios to join up under the label have also been revealed. Among those who will now publish under the Epic games Label we have Remedy Entertainment of recent Control fame, Gen Design of cult classic Shadow of the Colossus, and Playdead, the indie sensation behind Limbo. With a strong initial line-up, it will be interesting to see how many more join the label in the coming months. Check out the trailer above for some great behind the scenes thoughts!
