This week's "The Buzz" rounds up reactions to Epic Games' decision to slice Unreal Engine licensing revenue sharing by over half (favoring creators), as well as Nintendo's plans on releasing 20-30 indie games a week on Switch.
Epic Games shares the love with its Unreal Engine creative community
Epic Games shocked the industry with its incredibly generous rev-share slash in favor of Unreal Engine's creators. And Twitter couldn't be happier.
Epic is shifting the Unreal store from 70/30 revenue split to 88/12, and it is going to set that retroactively, so people get that rate for all sales from the last 4 years. https://t.co/8Zm2NFKnNq
— Jeffrey Grubb (@JeffGrubb) July 12, 2018
That Epic thing is the best announcement that’s ever been announced in games. Find me a better announcement in the last 20 years.
— Roll The Garbage (@AgentTinsley) July 12, 2018
WOW. This is a massive break from industry standard. Not only is Epic redefining its financial relationship with creators moving forward, it’s leveraging its recent success to make this retroactive for FOUR years.
— Mike Futter (@Futterish) July 12, 2018
Unless I’m missing something, this is a huge feel-good story. https://t.co/yxO8vCUxsL
Hey, let's all applaud Epic for giving developers an 88/12 split on revenue. Good on you, Epic.
— Skatin' Dingman (@haydencd) July 12, 2018
Then let's talk about how Valve's 30% cut is absolutely ludicrous for a digital marketplace. Just completely outsized and unfair.
But not only 12%: they also included four years backpay. FOUR. YEARS. https://t.co/RLiJDJjP97
— Roll The Garbage (@AgentTinsley) July 12, 2018
Nintendo opens the indie flood gates on Switch
Nintendo, on the other hand, has decided to make discoverability worse on the Switch by announcing that it will be releasing 20-30 games... a week.
I am all in favor of (1) indie games (2) on Switch, but I just can't conceive of a scenario in which 30 indie games launch every week without compromising quality and cannibalizing sales from worthy games. Haven't we done this dance a dozen times already?
— Jeremy Parish did not invent the word metroidvania (@gamespite) July 10, 2018
Annual General Meeting of Shareholders Nintendo Co. Q&A Summary
— Shams Jorjani (@ShamsJorjani) July 10, 2018
"In the future, we are looking to release around 20 to 30 indie games on Nintendo Switch per week, and we definitely expect to see some great games among them."
You'll need another 0 in your marketing budget.
I like the idea of Nintendo Switch getting more indie games...but 20-30 per WEEK? Talk about a danger of oversaturation.
— Robert “The DCD" Workman- Hey, it's summer! (@thedcd) July 10, 2018
For more stories like this one delivered straight to your inbox, please subscribe to the GameDailyBiz Digest!
Related Reading
Former Blizzard developers look to bring the RTS genre into the future with Frost Giant Studios
Co-founder and CEO Tim Morton talks to GameDaily about his work on StarCraft II, and how to make RTS accessible to a wider audience.
Escaping the Underworld: Supergiant's Greg Kasavin on the development and success of Hades
From harnessing the power of early access to a lighthearted approach to the realm of the dead, Hades has become Supergiant's most successful launch ever. Kasavin talks to GameDaily about the studio's design philosophy.
Building Bartlow's Dread Machine: An interview with Clayton Kauzlaric and Matthew Hoesterey
Beep Games and Tribetoy talk to GameDaily about the origins of the arcade shooter that takes place inside the clockwork mechanisms of a turn-of-the-century parlor game.
Unity's Unite Now is a hub of educational game development content
Users can access a treasure trove of resources that is sure to help them elevate their projects to the next level.