Epic lowers Unreal Engine royalty fee for games released simultaneously on Epic Games Store
Prioritise an Epic Games Store release, and your royalties could drop from 5% to 3.5%
Epic Games will drop its Unreal Engine royalty fees from 5% to 3.5% for developers that eligible Unreal games on Epic Games Stores before or at the same time as other stores.
Called "Launch Everywhere with Epic," the initiative - which goes live on January 1, 2025 - the offer applies to any platforms where the Epic Games Store is available (currently PC, Mac, Android, with iOS support coming in future).
Developers that ship their game on the Epic Games Store will also be entitled for the royalty rate reduction if the title is also made available on consoles.
Epic clarified that the royalty rate will revert to 5% if you offer your Unreal Engine game on another PC or Android store "and do not offer it on the Epic Games Store for the corresponding platform."
"With the huge pressure on margins across the game business, we’re improving our engine and store terms further to help you reach bigger audiences with more developer-friendly terms," Epic said in a press release.
Yesterday we learned that Epic Games is filing another legal complaint against Google as well as Samsung, claiming the latter's Auto Blocker is a barrier to alternative app stores and clashes with a jury verdict last year.
Update: Epic Games reached out with further clarifications regarding the eligibilty of games for the reduced royalty rate. The article above has been amended to reflect this.