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
1047 extends Splitgate beta after more than 600k thousand players sign up [Update]
The team is rushing to keep up with server demand but says the excitement keeps them going.
Netflix is starting a games division focused on interactive experiences
The streaming service has a firmer foothold than other recent entrants in the market.
Stadia's new revenue sharing plan shows Google still doesn't understand the landscape
The program rewards only a certain kind of developer, but only if they act fast with no guarantee of success
New studio Timbre Games promises to create a diverse, community-focused environment
Timbre is Sumo Group's first Canadian studio and could signal a change in the city's development scene.