Well, I can’t say that I didn’t see this coming, as I did speculate that this might happen. Only I was hoping it really wouldn’t. Today, Ubisoft announced that their upcoming title, The Division 2, will skip Steam and will be available on Epic’s store. Previously Epic had succeeded in attracting smaller indie developers to their store. So the news of The Division 2 making the jump is the first AAA title that’s heading over and I’m sure it’s going to make more than a few heads turn.
According to Ubisoft, this won’t be the only game that will arrive on Epic’s platform. Both Ubisoft and Epic plan on teaming up for “Additional select titles” over the course of the year. Which means we could also see Far Cry New Dawn, Beyond Good & Evil 2, as well as any other unannounced games from the company. Dare I say we could even see existing Ubisoft games currently on Steam being pulled in the future.
“We aim to provide the most publisher-friendly store, providing direct access to customers and an 88% revenue split, enabling game creators to further re-invest in building great games,” — Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic
This is definitely a blow to Valve and Steam, who many still believe doesn’t have much to worry about when it comes to Epic as well as Discord’s up and coming game store. With the news of The Division 2 no longer arriving on Steam, I don’t think that will stand true anymore. Competition is coming and it’s looking to shake up the PC gaming sector – which many are saying this is very similar to the console wars. Something I’m inclined to agree with.
The Division 2 will also be sold on Ubisoft’s uPlay, as well as on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
