Epic Games Store now lets developers publish their own games

gamedeveloper.com:

Epic Games revealed a new initiative wherein developers can publish their own games on the Epic Games Store. 

Beginning today, developers and publishers have access to self-service tools that will allow them to put their own titles on the storefront. Doing so will, in Epic's words, allow developers to "efficiently release games, maintain their store presence directly, and reach a growing audience of over 68 million monthly active users."

All developers and publishers need to do in order to self-publish is meet Epic's requirements, which are "designed to provide a best-in-class player experience that doesn’t lock players into a single store." 

Those requirements include PC cross-play for multiplayer games, age ratings for regional distribution, and Epic Games Store Achievements. The game must also be consistent with the descriptions and assets on its store page, meaning it has to download, install, and work exactly as it's being promised. 

To sign up, developers must login through Epic's developer-specific portal and follow the instructions from there. For each game being submitted for a store page, a developer or publisher has to pay a fee of $100. 

Looking at how Valve handles the self-publishing process for Steam, Epic has a similar method for its own store. However, the latter company's process also has some extra flourishes that may be a more enticing offer to developers looking to put their game on the Epic Games Store. 

For starters, Epic has said that developers will keep 88 percent of the revenue they earn. By comparison, developers on Steam keep 70 percent of earned revenue, which has been a friction point for developers in the past. At GDC 2020, many developers admitted they don't believe Valve's earned the right to