Epic is offering better terms for developers who build games with Unreal Engine and list them on the Epic Games Store.
As part of the new “Launch Everywhere with Epic” program, Epic is reducing the royalty rate for games built with Unreal Engine from 5 percent to 3.5 percent — however, those games will have to be available on the Epic Games Store on launch day. The program kicks in on January 1st, 2025 for eligible games published on the Epic Games Store beginning that year.
With this move, Epic seems to be trying yet another way to encourage developers to list games on its store, including its newly launched stores on Android and iOS. Epic says that the royalty reduction will be in place for every platform and store where a developer lists their games — that means consoles, too. So, if a developer has a big multiplatform hit that’s made with Unreal Engine, they could pocket a lot of additional money by not having to pay as much in Unreal Engine royalties.
If a developer offers an Unreal Engine game on a PC or Android store but doesn’t list it on that platform’s Epic Games Store, the royalty rate will go back up to 5 percent. For iOS games, Epic is currently waiving that simultaneous release requirement, citing Apple’s Core Technology Fee, which many developers would be subject to if they listed their games on Epic’s iOS store. If Epic changes its approach to iOS, it says it will give developers four months of warning.
Epic already waives Unreal Engine royalties on sales at the Epic Games Store where Epic is the payment processor, offering yet another perk for developers to ship on its platforms. (Unreal Engine developers are also only subject to royalties after a game earns more than $1 million in revenue.) The reduced Unreal Engine royalties could also be intriguing for developers who have lost trust in Unity following its now-canceled runtime fee pricing model.