Epic Games is now testing a new system that will make it easier for developers to publish their games on the Epic Games Store. The company said that for users, the new system means that the store’s game inventory will grow faster than ever. Currently, for a game to be approved and released on the Epic Game Store, you need to work directly with Epic at every step of the process.
The company plans to use new self-publishing tools to simplify the process, allowing developers to set up their own product pages, achievements, pricing, offers, and upload build and updates in the store. The system is similar to Steam Direct, allowing any developer to submit their games to Steam and publish on the platform for a fee.
For Steam, it has spontaneously greatly increased the number of games released on the platform, but it has also been criticized by users for its out-of-control quality, which has led to a flood of bad works. Valve’s response was not to create a stricter approval process but to iterate filtering tools and algorithms to ensure that users first see high-quality games on the Steam store homepage.
Epic stated that its new system will also reduce reliance on the Epic Games Store team, although it is not clear whether the game will still require detailed separate reviews before it is allowed to go live. The blog post also did not clearly state whether the game is charged for release. The cost of publishing a game via Steam Direct is $100. Epic currently declined to comment on this.
The company stated that the main requirement for its release is that the game can be successfully launched and run and that it is consistent with the description on the game page. Multiplayer games also need to fully support the online features of all PC platforms.
In addition, Epic also announced a list of prohibited content, including any hate or discriminatory, pornographic, illegal content, and scams and malware that pretend to be games. Steam has similar rules, but Steam allows adult games to some extent, but real people cannot be portrayed in these games.
Steam usually does not reject games based on quality or taste, except in extreme cases, such as Steam has removed a game that simulates a school shooting. It remains to be seen what judgment Epic will or will not make, although, at the launch of the Epic Games Store, CEO Tim Sweeney stated that it would not accept junk games.
Epic’s self-publishing system is currently in internal testing to “stress test the toolset and improve it based on developer feedback while increasing the number of games and applications on the Epic Games Store. Anyone who wants to participate can fill out a form to apply for the assessment.
The new system should be good news for more and more developers who choose to publish their games on their own and may not pass the Epic Store assessment. The developer of the game Death Trash Stephan Hövelbrinks revealed on Twitter that this self-published game has recovered its development costs within two weeks.
