Hello,
I wanted to share a long but hopefully constructive feedback regarding the Epic Store.
I’ve noticed a significant change in the sales of my video game between November 2023 and February 2024, and I believe much of it is due to the alterations made to the Store Front announced during December. Specifically, the discount list that is right below the featured games no longer shuffles randomly among all discounted games. Instead, the section has been renamed “Featured Discounts” and essentially contains a selection (chosen either by you or an algorithm) of discounted titles.
Back in November 2023, I ran a discount for my game simultaneously on Epic Games and Steam. On the same day, I made 120 sales on Epic and only 8 on Steam. At that time, I could confidently tell other indie game developers that the Epic Games Store was superior to Steam for selling a self-published indie game. However, this is no longer the case.
With the introduction of “Featured Discounts”, my game failed to secure a spot on the homepage, meaning only users who already had it on their wishlist or those who browsed the full list of discounted titles found it. As a result, on the peak day, I only managed to make 28 sales.
My feedback:
Last year you opened the store to indie game developers because you needed more titles to make the store appealing to players. While AAA titles are great, they are fewer in number compared to indie titles, and a store cannot thrive solely on them. So, you made the right decision to open up to indies.
Your store may have fewer features than Valve’s currently, but you offer a better revenue share and, most importantly, visibility. Visibility, in my opinion, is the most crucial feature a store can offer. This is why Steam falls short for most indies. When a game is published on Steam, 40+ other titles are published the same day, risking zero visibility for new releases. Without visibility, a game is doomed from the start.
I wish the Epic Store would be different (which it was until December 2023).
Not only do I wish for this, but I also believe it is necessary for the success of your store.
If you want to thrive in your business, you need indie game developers. In return, we need visibility more than a higher revenue share (88% revenue share is great but is more appealing to AAA studios than to indies from my point of view, as they are the ones making tens of millions).
If you fail to provide us with better visibility than Steam and our games end up buried in the Epic Store the same way it happens on Valve’s, what’s the incentive for us to publish on your platform? We have to integrate another SDK, prepare all the graphic for the store page, go through your validation and publishing process, which takes time and effort. If the result is insufficient sales to justify the effort, then it becomes questionable.
I’m currently developing another game. Will I publish it on the Epic store?
At this moment, I’m uncertain. If you had asked me the same question in November 2023, my answer would have been a resounding yes! I even advised other indie devs I know to do the same. However, more recently, I’ve begun to question whether it’s worth it.
I hope you’ll consider my feedback, and I’m open to discussing this topic further with you, Epic, if you’re willing.
NOTE: Before anyone suggests the importance of wishlists, investment in advertising, or building a userbase pre-launch, let me clarify that I am well aware of these factors. However, the essence of my feedback lies in the fundamental question: If a store fails to provide adequate visibility, what purpose does it serve for indie developers?
The issue here isn’t about absolving myself/ourselves from responsibility but rather about highlighting the critical role that visibility plays in the success of indie games. So, while these strategies are undoubtedly valuable, they shouldn’t be the sole lifeline for developers. The question remains: Is Epic Store doesn’t provide better features than Steam, why shall I publish on Epic rather than on Steam?
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