Relying on exclusive games to bolster the Epic Games Store’s line-up has been a key component in Epic’s strategy to gain a foothold in a market dominated by Steam. The developer/publisher announced earlier today that third-party games made $251 million on the store in 2019. This figure is “60% higher than our initial forecast”, according to Epic CEO Tim Sweeney. “Epic Games Store third-party game revenue in 2019 is roughly 60% higher than our initial forecast at launch, and the pace of free game installs is several times higher than we originally expected,” he told Gamedaily.
Steve Allison, Epic Games Store GM, admitted that 90% of new releases on the store are exclusives. Despite this, the company does not intend on slowing down this pace. In fact, according to Allison, exclusive games made up most of the store’s third-party revenue in 2019. “Exclusives have been critical in gaining momentum in the presence of a competitor that began 2019 with more than 90% market share,” added Sweeney. “Securing exclusives for Epic means we can significantly assist developers with product funding and invest in marketing and awareness knowing that these efforts bring in new customers to our store, rather than just sending more business to the incumbent.” In August, Epic signed exclusive deals with six indie games, and followed that up with another batch in December.
