Steam vs Epic for developers: revenue share and reach
If you are deciding where to sell a PC game, the cut is the number everyone quotes and the one that matters least on its own. What a store keeps is easy to compute; how many people see the game is not. This page does both, using the current public terms. Read the source pages before signing anything: Steamworks documentation and the Epic Games Store distribution terms.
Overview for players: Steam vs Epic Games Store.
The terms side by side
| Steam | Epic Games Store | |
|---|---|---|
| Base cut | 30% | 12% |
| Lower tiers | 25% after $10M, 20% after $50M (lifetime per game) | 0% on first $1M per game per calendar year (since June 2025) |
| Entry fee | $100 Steam Direct per game, recoupable at $1,000 | Per-app fee in the Developer Portal |
| Keys | Free keys to sell elsewhere, within Valve's rules | Keys available on request |
| Exclusivity money | None | Negotiated deals, sometimes with guarantees |
| Engine royalty | n/a | Unreal royalty waived on Epic Store revenue |
| In-game payments | Steam payment required for in-game purchases | Third-party payment allowed, with Epic as an option |
Worked payouts
What the developer receives before taxes, refunds and payment fees, assuming all revenue lands in one calendar year:
| Gross revenue | Steam | Epic | Epic advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $70,000 | $100,000 | $30,000 |
| $500,000 | $350,000 | $500,000 | $150,000 |
| $1,000,000 | $700,000 | $1,000,000 | $300,000 |
| $5,000,000 | $3,500,000 | $4,520,000 | $1,020,000 |
| $20,000,000 | $14,500,000 | $17,720,000 | $3,220,000 |
| $60,000,000 | $45,000,000 | $52,920,000 | $7,920,000 |
Two things the table hides. First, Steam's tiers count lifetime revenue, so a long-running hit eventually pays 20% on new sales, while Epic's free $1M resets yearly, which helps games with steady sales more than one big launch. Second, the "Epic advantage" only exists for sales that happen on Epic. A game that sells $1M on Steam and $100,000 on Epic earns $700,000 + $100,000, not $1,000,000.
Reach: the part the cut does not show
Steam set a record of about 43.5 million concurrent users in October 2026, and its catalog passed 130,000 games. Epic reported 78 million monthly users at its December 2025 peak, but most of that audience arrives for Fortnite and free games, and third-party spending on the store was $400 million in 2025 (out of $1.16 billion total PC spending, per Epic).
Steam's discovery tools are built for a long tail:
- Wishlists notify buyers when a game launches or goes on sale; they are the main pre-launch metric publishers watch.
- Next Fest and themed fests give demos a guaranteed placement.
- Recommendations (Discovery Queue, tags, "More like this") keep surfacing a game after launch week.
- User reviews feed the algorithm and the buyer's decision at the same time.
Epic's store is curated, so a featured slot can mean a lot, but there are fewer slots and less organic long-tail traffic. Epic's biggest marketing lever is the free games program: a paid free week puts a game in millions of libraries, and Epic reports it lifts player counts elsewhere.
Services beyond the store
Steamworks bundles a lot at no extra cost: achievements, cloud saves, leaderboards, matchmaking and lobbies, voice, the Workshop for user-generated content, Remote Play, Steam Input for controllers, and beta branches. Epic Online Services offers cross-platform accounts, matchmaking, achievements, voice and Easy Anti-Cheat, and it works on every store, not only Epic's. Many studios use EOS for cross-play and Steamworks for Steam-specific features in the same game.
Exclusivity: what changed
Epic built its store on timed exclusives with guaranteed payments. In 2026 they still exist, but players resent them, and some get unwound: Lords of the Fallen 2's exclusivity ended by agreement in April 2026. Epic has also experimented with launch-everywhere incentives, such as lower Unreal royalties for games released on Epic at the same time as other stores, which push the opposite way from exclusivity.
When a deal is offered, weigh:
- the guarantee against your realistic Steam wishlist conversion;
- the review and refund backlash on Steam launch day 6 to 12 months later;
- whether the deal blocks Steam wishlists or only the Steam release;
- whether your community lives on Discord and Steam forums, which an exclusive cuts off.
A practical launch plan
- Steam page early. Collect wishlists for months, join Next Fest with a demo.
- Epic page at the same time if you are not exclusive anywhere. Same price, same launch date, same patches.
- Use EOS or a cross-store backend if you need cross-play between buyers of both stores.
- Regional pricing. Start from Steam's recommended prices and mirror them on Epic where currencies allow; check the result with the regional price comparator.
- Plan discounts around both calendars. Steam seasonal sales and Epic Mega Sale overlap rarely; stagger them. See sale calendar.
- Consider an Epic free week later in the game's life, when it can sell DLC or a sequel.
Related reading
- Player side of the same comparison: Steam vs Epic Games Store.
- How pricing differs by region: regional pricing compared.
- How refunds affect your revenue: refunds compared.
- User-generated content: mods and Workshop.
FAQ
- How much does Steam take from each sale?
- 30% of a game's revenue up to $10M, 25% from $10M to $50M, and 20% above $50M. The tiers cover game sales, DLC, in-game purchases and Community Market fees, counted over the game's lifetime.
- How much does Epic take?
- Nothing on the first $1M a game earns in a calendar year, then 12%. The free tier is per game and resets every year. It took effect in June 2025.
- Is the 0% tier only for exclusives?
- No. It applies to any game sold through Epic's store and payment system, exclusive or not. Exclusivity deals are negotiated separately and usually come with a guaranteed payment.
- Does Epic charge Unreal Engine royalties on Epic Store sales?
- Epic waives the engine royalty on revenue earned through its own store. For sales elsewhere, 2024 terms set a lower rate for games that launch on Epic at the same time as other stores. Check Epic's current Unreal EULA before planning around it.
- Can I sell Steam keys outside Steam?
- Yes. Steam lets developers generate keys and sell them in other shops or bundles without paying Valve a cut, within Valve's key rules (no better deal off-Steam than on Steam for long periods).
- What does the $100 Steam Direct fee cover?
- It is a per-game submission fee, recoupable once the game earns $1,000 in adjusted gross revenue. Epic has a self-publishing portal with its own per-app fee; check the current amount in the Epic Developer Portal.
- Should an indie launch on Epic only?
- Rarely without an exclusivity guarantee. Steam's wishlists, festivals and recommendation engine are where most indie games find buyers. Epic is a strong second channel with better margins.
- Do free-game deals on Epic hurt sales elsewhere?
- Epic says the opposite: it reported that 77% of games set an all-time concurrent player record during their free week and saw a 40% lift in Steam concurrents. Treat those numbers as Epic's own claims.