Epic’s Publishing Arm: Handshake or Arm Wrestle? 💪

In a move characteristically “Epic,” this week Epic Games launched a multi-platform games publishing arm with, on the face of it, very simple terms:

• Developers keep full creative ownership, IP ownership, and creative control
• Epic funds up to 100% of the development costs
• Profits are split 50/50 after cost recoup

What remains are very open question marks:

• Scope and length of exclusivity?
• Development requirement using Unreal Engine?
• Google Play access for mobile games?

So is Epic’s new publishing arm a genuine handshake or an arm wrestle in disguise? Below please find our cursory outline on potential positive and negative implications:

An Epic Handshake

1. Third party publishing has been on the decline, and certainly many games that would not otherwise have been made can now be funded through this program
2. Epic, by having simple and transparent terms, introduces competition into publishing generally, potentially deterring predatory publisher practices
3. Creative control is a big deal. By preventing “business suits” and “execs,” who have never made a hit game in their life, from shotcalling and hurting development teams, this model may have a higher chance of success

An Epic Arm Wrestle

1. A publisher that gains proprietary customer data who can — and, by many accounts, already has (in the case of PUBG) — use said data against their customers has a “customer adversarial” relationship, what Tim Sweeney described himself. In other words, if you publish with Epic, you should be prepared to compete against your publisher
2. For any F2P developer with a loot box or pay-to-win monetization model, how likely are they to get a publishing deal from a company whose CEO has publicly denounced this approach?
3. Epic Store has significantly underperformed relative to investment and expectations. Third-party published games that are likely to be forced on to the Epic Store may be condemning their fates to lower potential outcomes

Overall, while Epic’s bold move is impressive both by standards of risk-taking and execution, ultimately the true impact of how the industry responds remains to be seen.

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