A select few Epic Store Games are now available to purchase from the Humble Store, including Metro Exodus and Borderlands 3.
Players have been able to buy Steam keys from the Humble Store for a while now. Doing so confers a few key benefits:
- Every purchase from the Humble Store supports important charities.
- Humble regularly holds sales and bundles that you won’t find on Steam.
- If you’re a member of Humble Monthly, you’ll get an extra 10% off select games.
- Did we mention the charity thing? It’s nice to give something back for doing something you’d be doing anyway – buying video games.
But in an effort to drag players away from their beloved Steam, Epic has been throwing its Fortnite cash around and rounding up exclusives. We’ve seen everything from The Walking Dead: The Final Season and World War Z to The Division 2 and Metro Exodus crop up on Epic’s storefront, rather than Steam. There are more big names in the works, too, including Borderlands 3, Control, and The Outer Wilds.
And while Steam advocates may be upset by Epic’s moves, CEO Tim Sweeney has thrown down the gauntlet to Valve in the fight for hearts and minds: If Steam matches the Epic Store’s revenue share – that’s 88:12, rather than Steam’s 70:30 – then Epic will stop pursuing exclusives altogether.
Such a move would be a glorious moment in the history of PC gaming, and would have a sweeping impact on other platforms for generations to come.
Then stores could go back to just being nice places to buy stuff, rather than the Game Developer IRS.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) April 25, 2019
We’re not going to hold our breath on that one, but a better revenue share for developers is a nice dream to have.
In the meantime, one of Steam’s better ancillary features – the ability to pick up keys from the Humble Store, often saving money and supporting charities to boot – has now found its way to the Epic Store.
“The partnership between Humble Bundle and Epic that was announced at GDC is now bearing fruit,” reads the press release on Epic’s website.
Currently, it’s limited to just three games – Metro Exodus, Dangerous Driving, and pre-orders for Borderlands 3 – but expect to see that line-up expand in the coming weeks. (Read our reviews of Metro Exodus and Dangerous Driving.)
And don’t forget: purchases made from the Humble Store also support worthwhile charities.
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