One of the most developer-friendly game storefronts for Windows PC, iOS, and Android — as well as the biggest competitor to Valve's dominant platform Steam — is about to get even better this summer.
That app is the Epic Games Store, a launcher and distribution service launched by Unreal Engine and Fortnite creator Epic Games back in late 2018 on PC and eventually came to mobile devices last year. On Thursday morning, the company announced that two major new features are coming to the platform in June. The first is a change to its revenue share policy that will see game developers pay 0% of the first $1 million it makes each year on games it launches on a per-app basis.
"Starting in June 2025, for any Epic Games Store payments we process, developers will pay a 0% revenue share on their first $1,000,000 in revenue per app per year, and then our regular 88%/12% revenue share when they earn more than that," wrote the firm.
On top of that, Epic is also announcing that support for webshops — stores that offer microtransactions on in-game items — hosted on the Epic Games Store are coming to its platforms. Unlike in-app purchases that allow companies like Google and Apple charge developers fees, the firm says these out-of-app purchases on Epic won't have these royalties. Notably, the reveal of this upcoming feature comes immediately after a judge ruled that Apple has been skirting around an order to stop preventing developers from offering players out-of-app stores on Wednesday evening.
"In June 2025, we are releasing a new feature enabling developers to launch their own webshops hosted by the Epic Games Store. These webshops can offer players out-of-app purchases, as a more cost-effective alternative to in-app purchases, where Apple, Google, and others charge exorbitant fees," Epic explained in its blog post. "With new legal rulings in place, developers will be able to send players from games to make digital purchases from webshops on any platform that allows it, including iOS in the European Union and United States."
Another thing that's important to note is that while neither of the aforementioned features and policy changes inherently benefit players, Epic is making them quite a nice offer if they purchase something from Epic Games Store-based webshops. Specifically, you'll get 5% cashback on all transactions made in these stores that will go directly into your Epic Rewards balance, allowing you to then spend that money on other microtransactions and even full games.
A colossal win for game developers
The Epic Games Store was already hugely beneficial for game developers since it offers an 88%/12% revenue share policy — a significantly better deal than the 30% cut that Valve shaves off the top of all Steam purchases. With each of these new features, though, it just became an even more attractive platform to release titles on.
A full $1 million that doesn't have to be split between Epic and the developer per app per year will translate to quite a bit of increased revenue for developers over time, and the addition of support for Epic-based storefronts will also be a huge boon for mobile game developers in particular. That 5% cashback offer on purchases made in those webstores is nothing to scoff at, either.
From a user perspective, the Epic Games Store is still far from perfect; many important features like game gifting or preloading upcoming releases are glaringly absent, and while Epic says these are coming, it's frankly baffling that they haven't yet been added in six years after the platform's release. Even though most PC players still prefer Steam as a result, though, the Epic Games Store nevertheless remains a fantastic auxiliary service for game devs to publish on.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
