Ubisoft is the latest gigantic publisher to avoid the Steam marketplace for its PC games. And the company is getting some help from its friends at Epic Games to ensure it can still reach a critical mass of consumers. Ubisoft revealed today that it is releasing Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 on its own Uplay service on March 15. At the same time, it will also debut the online multiplayer shooter on the Epic Games Store … but not on Steam, Valve’s store.
You can preorder The Division 2 on Uplay and Epic Games Store beginning today. And whether you make your purchase on Ubisoft or Epic’s markets, the publishers are guaranteeing you access to the upcoming private beta test. And the two companies are promising to work together to ensure that they integrate their various services and features.
“We entrust Epic to deliver a smooth journey for our fans, from preordering the game and enjoying our Beta to the launch of Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 on March 15,” Ubisoft partnerships boss Chris Early said. “Epic continues to disrupt the video game industry, and their third party digital distribution model is the latest example, and something Ubisoft wants to support.”
Ubisoft is continuing to offer its other games on Steam. But it is definitely making a big move by dropping support for the service for the next Division game. Of course, nothing is stopping the company for bringing the game to Steam in the future.
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Getting by with a little help from an 88/12 revenue split
Ubisoft is not the first company to escape the Valve PC gaming ecosystem. Electronic Arts has run its own Origin service for years. And over the last couple of years, publishers like Bethesda and Epic have also started their own platforms. They are all doing this to avoid paying Valve a 30 percent cut of every sale.
While Valve has recently created a progressive revenue split on Steam where it only takes 20 percent from games that make more than $10 million, it is facing some extreme competition. Epic is taking only 12 percent of every sale from every game. The communications platform Discord, meanwhile, is taking just 10 percent.
For Epic, it wants to use Fortnite to attract major games to its store. And The Division 2 is a prime example of that goal.
“As long-time fans and partners of Ubisoft, we’re thrilled to bring a range of awesome Ubisoft games to the Epic Games store,” Epic chief executive officer Tim Sweeney said. “We aim to provide the most publisher-friendly store, providing direct access to customers and an 88% revenue split, enabling game creators to further reinvest in building great games.”
