Valve just needs to drop “these ridiculous 30% fees”
According to Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, Fortnite on Steam is not out of the question, but it would necessitate significant changes to the way store owner Valve monetizes sales, specifically a reduction in what Sweeney refers to as “these ridiculous 30% fees.”
Epic is riding high on the heels of an antitrust victory over Google, which Epic claims “proves that Google’s app store practices are illegal and they abuse their monopoly to extract exorbitant fees, stifle competition and reduce innovation.” Epic has previously clashed with Valve over similar policies, albeit outside of court, leading to the creation of the Epic Games Store, which continues to lose money after several years.
Sweeney responded to a Twitter user’s question about how the ruling might affect the market, saying, “We’ll compete, and we’ll also put Fortnite on any serious store that gives all developers an awesome deal. Steam, Microsoft, OneStore, anyone: give all developers an awesome deal and we’ll support you. The end of these ridiculous 30% fees is near.”
As a starting point, Valve takes a 30% cut of all Steam sales. However, the company introduced a scaling system a few years ago that gives more money to high-earning developers, with $10 million earners receiving a 25% rate and $50 million earners receiving only 20%. Historically, as our friends at PC Gamer reported in 2021, most game developers – the vast majority of whom will never see $10 million in their lifetime – have believed Steam does not earn a 30% cut.
Obviously, with Fortnite being one of the most popular games on the planet, it would more than qualify for this lower fee, but Sweeney and Epic’s attitude appears to be based on principle.
In this regard, Steam contrasts with the Epic Games Store, which has touted its larger revenue share split since its inception. As of this August, creators can keep 100% of their first-six-month earnings if they launch solely on Epic Games Store, and others can keep 88% with Epic taking a usual 12% split.