Tim Sweeneythe founder and current CEO of Epic Games, was the first to speak at the recent “State of Unreal”, the event dedicated to highlighting the technological performance of the new in-house engine: the Unreal Engine 5 .
Following several technical demos, some of which are playable like The Matrix Awakens, this meeting confirmed the incredible quality of rendering allowed by the new graphics engine.
Behind the precise staging, the partnership announcements with different studios, and the Hollywood montages of in-game videos, Epic Games’ philosophy is repeated several times: to provide developers with the tools to be able to create games even more beautiful contents. Free.
Because where Epic stands out from the rest of the competition is in the design of its business model, which is entirely focused on sharing. When the company was created, Tim Sweeney’s first software. The shooter/editor Lyra, presented during this conference, is thus a real tribute to it, and an emphasis on the company’s guideline focusing on exchange.
Today, Epic Games relies on three financial components: sales of games that the studio produces, Fortnite in the lead; its online game store; and charges for using the graphics engine, the Unreal Engine.
And on these three points, we find the shareware aspect intrinsic to Epic. Fortnite is free, it is in-game purchases that ensure its profitability. The use of the Unreal Engine is also free, subject to three types of license: if you use it for a purely creative purpose, then you will not have to pay anything; on the other hand, if you make a profit from it, then you will have to retrocede 5% of your profits, but only if you exceed the million dollars in revenue (that leaves a little margin…).
Finally, the Epic Game Store wants to be an open door to all studios, the company recovering only 12% of sales, against 30% at Steam, which is a real opportunity for independents who do not have the capacity to margin in the same way as large publishers.
This last event also allowed the general public to become aware of the ecosystem made available by Epic Games, all around the Unreal Engine 5. The free software, the availability of various educational tools (tutorials, forums , Q&A,…), and efforts ranging from the sense of accessibility are admirable for a company of such stature.
Unlike the big names in software suites, such as Adobe or Microsoft, Epic Games imposes itself not in the restriction and security of its solutions (facilitated by a permanent connection to the Internet which has become the norm), but in the openness to the greatest number and the exchange. A virtuous and profitable business model for all, which should inspire other companies.