TheEpic Games Storehas been pitched as a major Steam competitor in digital game sales. The Epic Games store offers a better revenue split for developers,offers free games likeSubnauticato users, and has no community features (therefore avoiding toxicity on its platform). Another feature the Epic Games Store holds over Steam is the quality of its games, which Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney was keen to point out.
In a new interview, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney touted his company’s digital PC game store saying, “We’ll have a quality standard that doesn’t accept crappy games, and we’ll accept reasonably good quality games, of any scale, whether small indie games to huge triple-A games.” Players will still be able to findM-rated games likeGrand Theft Autobut “Epic’s not going to distribute porn games or bloatware or asset flips, or any sort of thing that’s meant to shock players.”
Sweeney also explained that while the Epic Games Store won’t have anything like a “console certification process,” Epic Games will “somehow” be aware of the quality of a game before it’s released. The executive didn’t fully detail how this would work, but did say that “humans can make those judgment calls, and they’ll be pretty reasonable.”
While theEpic Gamesboss didn’t mention Steam by name, some are taking this as “shade” towards Steam’s notoriously lax approval process. Steam has been accused of allowing bloatware and poor quality games on its platform before. Its Steam Greenlight program was notorious for allowing bad and questionable games to slip through and be sold on Steam proper. Steam early access also has a history of being abused, to the point whereSteam had to rewrite its early access rules. While things have improved over the years, many have called for more curation and human moderation.
Steam has also allowedcontroversial games likeHatredto be sold temporarily on the platform before it was pulled. Earlier this month, sexual assault simulationRape Daywas sold on Steam before public outcry led the platform to remove it. Many have criticized Steam platform-holder Valve for being so willing to sell poor quality or hateful games just to make money from them. If the sale of these games is an accident, then Valve should do more to clean up Steam.
Sweeney’s comments should give plenty of gamers (especially parents) more confidence in the Epic Games Store. While the launch of the storefront hasn’t been a home run (there is backlash over its exclusives), this news is what some needed to hear to jump from Steam to theEpic Games Store.
