Steam is the biggest gaming platform and each year its library grows. It is not only indie heaven but also suitable for bigger publishers. In 2017, over 7000 Steam games released and that number grew to 9,464 in 2018. Meanwhile, close 5000 pieces of DLC released for various games on Valve’s PC platform. In total, 4,896 DLCs released on Steam in 2018. Overall the Steam PC games library grew by 35% year-over-year.
According to the most recent stats from 2018, Steam now has 30,000 games in total for PC gamers to enjoy. What’s interesting to note here is that while growth has been high year-over-year for Steam this time around, things may not be as good as they are right now by this time next year.
Many of the publishers are considering moving to Epic Games Store, in fact, Ubisoft has already pulled the trigger. The rival is challenging Steam’s dominance in the PC market and could prove to be the very first major competitor for Steam ever since its inception. The Division 2 is one of the first major games to skip Steam in favor of Epic Games Store and analysts predict more games will follow.
Epic Games Store is offering a much better deal to developers which allows them to make more money from its PC platform. Meanwhile, Steam did make changes to its revenue share policy but it does nothing to boost smaller PC games developer’s revenue.
Starting from October 1, 2018 (i.e. revenues prior to that date are not included), when a game makes over $10 million on Steam, the revenue share for that application will adjust to 75 percent/25 percent on earnings beyond $10 million. At $50 million, the revenue share will adjust to 80 percent/20 percent on earnings beyond $50 million. Revenue includes game packages, DLC, in-game sales, and Community Marketplace game fees. Our hope is this change will reward the positive network effects generated by developers of big games, further aligning their interests with Steam and the community.
As a result, even indie games may shift to Epic Games Store in the near future even though the Better Business Bureau rating may affect its growth to some extent, things are looking good for Epic Games Store for now.
