Unreal Engine drives Epic Storefront

Epic uses Unreal Engine to turn distribution into a bundle, not a simple storefront fight. A studio already building its game in Unreal can save money, avoid a separate engine royalty on Epic processed sales, and work with the same company for engine tooling and store launch. That makes Epic more attractive to developers than a plain 12% versus 30% fee comparison would suggest.1 2 3 4

• For Unreal developers, Epic can collapse two tolls into one. Unreal sales on Epic Games Store are royalty free, so a studio is not just getting an 88% store payout, it is also avoiding the usual engine royalty on those sales.1 2 3
• The leverage matters because Epic owns a meaningful engine layer, not just a retail shelf. Unreal Engine was estimated at $325M of 2024 revenue, while Epic Games Store revenue was estimated at $285M, showing Epic can approach developers first through tools, then pull them toward distribution.4 5
• Steam still has the scale advantage, but Epic keeps using engine linked incentives to narrow the gap. Epic reported 295M PC users in 2024, and it has added programs like Epic First Run and Launch Everywhere to give developers more economic reasons to ship on Epic at launch.2 6 7

The next step is a tighter engine plus storefront loop, where launching with Epic becomes the default economics for many Unreal teams. If Epic keeps layering royalty relief, launch incentives, and store distribution together, it can win more day one releases without needing to match Steam feature for feature.1 2 6 7