Discord undercuts Epic with their new digital game store

Last week we reported on the just released Epic Game Store that was offering an incredibly generous split between themselves and the developers who utilise their platform. Whilst most game stores (including Steam, PlayStation and Xbox) offer a 70/30 split, Epic was offering an unprecedented 88/12 split in favour of the developer.

Whilst Epic may have made headlines last week, recently the Discord store announced their new plan, completely undercutting Epic’s unique selling point. The Discord store, which is set to launch in 2019, will offer developers a crazy 90/10 split, meaning more money going into the pockets of the people who are actually making the products we purchase.

The war of the digital gaming storefront appears to be growing stronger and stronger with more and more entities entering into the space. As of current there are a whole slew of major players in the digital PC storefront game, including but not limited to Steam, Origin, Uplay, Humble, GOG, Epic and now Discord. It seems like everybody wants a slice of that delicious pie.

With more competition it raises the question, is this variety actually good for the consumer? In many instances it is, because heavy competition means these organisations will have to try very hard to win your support. Although in many other ways it isn’t. Currently one of the tactics to get consumers to use your platform appears to be the use of exclusives, such as Ashen which just released only on the Epic Game Store for PC.  Exclusives are considerably less consumer friendly, forcing people to use a platform rather than encouraging them with pro-consumer incentives. Spreading your games library across multiple programs is also a little frustrating, however you can’t blame more players from trying to enter the lucrative digital storefront game.

The real question, will these new stores thrive or will they crash and burn in a heavily Steam dominated market?