One of the biggest gets for the Epic Games Store so far has been The Division 2, Ubisoft’s upcoming shared world looter shooter, which will be releasing (semi)exclusively on it on PC. But why did Ubisoft actually decide to abandon Steam, where it has released all of its PC games so far, for Epic’s store? Was the developer revenue sharing arrangement on the store so alluring to them?
Speaking during yesterday’s earnings call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot noted that the move had been made to not just get better terms (likely referring to that revenue split), but also so that Uplay, Ubisoft’s own storefront, would gain more exposure.
“There are a growing number of distribution platforms fighting for great content,” Guillemot said. “With this deal, we saw an opportunity to increase player exposure to our own store while at the same time supporting a partner that greatly values our games and provides better terms. Early indications are supportive, as PC pre-orders are higher than for the first Division, and pre-orders on the Ubisoft store are six times higher. We believe this deal is a long-term positive for Ubisoft.”
I suppose that the smartest thing would have been to make the game exclusive to their own store for Ubisoft, if they wanted to push it, but I am glad they haven’t gone that route yet. Since The Division 2’s success is apparently not harmed by the move either, we may see more and more games making the move going forward.