Epic isn't done with Epic Games Store exclusives, it's just focused on big ones

pcgamer.com:

Epic hasn't been announcing Epic Games Store exclusivity deals at the rate it once was, but if it seemed like one of the least-popular PC gaming business strategies of the past decade was on the way out: it ain't.

In a call about the new Epic Games Store self-publishing tools(opens in new tab) earlier this week, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney told me that the company hasn't changed its philosophy around exclusives, but if it feels like there are fewer lately, that may be because it's going after bigger fish these days.

«We're really honing our strategy based on what we observed worked really well in previous launches, and what didn't work really well,» said Sweeney. «A handful of major exclusives really moved the needle … and the smaller games, especially games that had a smaller audience that was typically on Steam, we found that a lot of those players weren't willing to move over.»

One of those hit exclusives was Borderlands 3, which «has just crushed, like, well beyond the expectations of the developers and the publishers,» Epic Games Store general manager Steve Allison told me on the same call.

Also part of Epic's ongoing exclusivity strategy is its relatively new game publishing wing, which is funding the development of several upcoming games, including Alan Wake 2 from Remedy, a new game from Limbo developer Playdead, and a game from The Last Guardian studio genDesign.

And if there were any doubt that these games would be Epic Games Store exclusives, let it be dispelled now. They will be exclusive for «a long time,» Allison told me.

Those are just the upcoming Epic-published games we know about. The company has about 14 games in total coming from publishing partners. That includes PC Building Simulator 2, as well as a few