Fortnite and Gears of War developer Epic Games announced they will be publishing games with a new brand while several studios have already agreed for future projects.
Simply introduced as Epic Games Publishing, a release states the new team will be taking on their own model of “developer-first” approaches. These include having “developers retain 100% of all intellectual property and full creative control,” while splitting sales evenly by 50/50 when a game is released.
The new publisher also promises to cover almost every cost for developer staff, marketing and other finishing touches in big-budget productions.
So far, Epic is set to help publish games for award-winning developers behind The Last Guardian (gen DESIGN), Inside/Limbo (Playdead) and Control (Remedy Entertainment).
Each of the developers are also the first to be collaborating with Epic Games for their next IPs – something the Unreal Engine creators are hoping will reinvent the publishing practice with freedom.
“We’re building the publishing model we always wanted for ourselves when we worked with publishers,” Epic CEO and Founder Tim Sweeney said.
Leading the new Epic Games Publishing group will be Hector Sanchez, former producer at PlayStation and Netherrealm Studios who also handled 2011’s Mortal Kombat reboot and Injustice: Gods Among Us. He also co-founded Annapurna Interactive, publishers for Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital), Journey (Thatgamecompany) and Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo).
“gen DESIGN, Remedy, and Playdead are among the most innovative and talented studios in the industry, with strong visions for their next games,” Sanchez said.
“They will have full creative control, while Epic will provide a solid foundation of project funding and services.”
Epic promised more details will be shared “in the coming months” with more teases for participating developers.
