Show Me the Money: How to Pick the Best PC Marketplace for Your Game

As an indie game developer, the decision to publish your game isn’t solely about what to create; it’s also about where to showcase your masterpiece. Now, we all know about Steam—that's the big kid on the block. But let’s be adventurers, shall we?

If you are also an obsessive psycho like me who researches every detail before buying something stupid like a vegetable peeler, this is the right place for you! Additionally, if you are a game developer, it might be helpful to take a look. 🤓

This article will mainly focus on PC marketplace options because almost every console has the same revenue split. PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and even Oculus receive the same 30% revenue and give 70% to the developers or publishers.

Before delving into the specifics of each PC marketplace, it’s essential to understand that, beyond revenue shares, these platforms may have additional charges like payment processing fees or taxes. Also, the rates mentioned are mostly valid, but there might be special deals in which you can get more or fewer shares.

So if you fasten your seatbelts, let’s start!

Main Digital Storefronts
Steam
I guess everyone knows that Steam takes 30%. Here is something you didn’t know — When you pass $10 million in sales, the split drops to 25%. And for every sale after $50 million, Steam will take only 20%. So I hope someday you pass these limits and remember reading this info. 😄

Epic Games
At the end of 2018, Epic Games Store went live with only a 12% revenue split and a clear diss to Steam:

The Epic Games store is now open, featuring awesome high-quality games from other developers. Our goal is to bring you great games, and to give game developers a better deal: they receive 88% of the money you spend, versus only 70% elsewhere. This helps developers succeed and make more of the games you love.

There are also 2 brand new options from Epic, both of which give developers a limited-time 100% of the revenue. The first one is Epic First Run, which is a six-month exclusivity program open to eligible products launching on or after October 16, 2023. The second one is Now On Epic, which is open to eligible products launched on another third-party PC storefront or third-party subscription service before October 31, 2023. For both programs, after 6 months, revenue splits return to 88%/12%.

GOG.com
GOG (formerly Good Old Games) has a typical 70/30 split. What makes them unique is their DRM-free gaming offering. Being DRM-free (Digital Rights Management) gives users the option to install games offline. So, there is no need to connect to a launcher, a server, or the internet. Just like the good old games we bought.

itch.io
itch.io has always been supportive of the indie gaming community. A good example of this is their Open Revenue Sharing model.

Their default share is 10%, yet you can change it from 0 to 100, so it is up to you how much you want to support them.

Microsoft Store
Microsoft has long employed a revenue-sharing model of 70 percent for creators and 30 percent for Xbox, but since August 2021, that has shifted to 88% for developers and 12% for Xbox, at least when it comes to PC releases. Keep in mind that this percentage only applies to PCs and not to Xbox consoles, as mentioned at the beginning.

Game Jolt
In 2016, Game Jolt opened its doors to indie developers with a very similar ‘pay-what-you-want’ model to itch.io. In this case, developers get at least 90% and decide to give Game Jolt between 0–10%. Another good feature of this marketplace is that you can withdraw your money whenever you want. So there isn’t any lower limit you should pass.

Humble Bundle
The trademark of Humble Bundle is that they always give a small portion of the revenue to charities. There are different share options, but the most mainstream one is 75% for developers, 15% for Humble Bundle, and 10% for charity.

They also have a program called Humble Widget, in which you can sell your game by placing a widget on your website. In return, you get 95% of the net proceeds from each sale.

Subscription Services
Xbox Game Pass
Most digital storefronts have revenue share models based on sales numbers. What if your game is accessible free of charge with a subscription model? I guess Xbox Game Pass is the most popular one in this case. So the question is, how do you calculate your earnings here?

So when a game is included in the Game Pass library, Microsoft pays the studio a share of the subscription revenue based on player engagement metrics, such as playtime and the number of players who engage with their game (download, retention rate, etc.). This means that studios have the potential to earn more if their games are highly engaging and widely played by Game Pass subscribers. There may or may not be an upfront payment as an advance against future revenue sharing to compensate for development costs.

Apple Arcade
Similar to the Game Pass royalty model, Apple Arcade developers are paid for each user who downloads and plays their game. This fee is determined by the length of time the user spends playing the game, with longer sessions resulting in higher payouts. Keep in mind that the library is limited, and they can be played only on Apple products.

Notable Historical Mentions
Discord
In 2018, Discord announced its gaming store with a 90/10 revenue split, and they stated this in a blog post as follows:

Why does it cost 30% to distribute games? Is this the only reason developers are building their stores and launchers to distribute games? Turns out, it does not cost 30% to distribute games in 2018.

Yet a couple of years later, they decided it was not going as planned and then pivoted it to a program called Server Subscriptions. So you can create your server and offer your community whatever you want for a subscription fee. The split stayed the same, with 90/10 shares.

Cartridge
2018 was a fruitful year for gaming storefronts. Another big name in the gaming industry, Kongregate, announced its platform called Kartridge. They entitle developers to 100% of the revenue earned on their first $10,000 in sales per title. After that, it switches to 70/30. As an added incentive, if you place your game exclusively on Kartridge, they will also give you 90% of the next $40.000. Sadly, they stopped all action in 2020.

IGS
Indie Game Stand had a revolutionary Pay-What-You-Want (PYWY) service for their customers. They opened their marketplace in 2013 with a 75/25 revenue split. However, users mostly used this PWYW option and didn’t buy full-priced games. As a result, they shut down all operations in 2017. https://bit.ly/100percentIntelligentCryptocurrencyVIP

Crypto Gaming?
Roblox
Roblox has a Developer Exchange Program where you can sell your games and earn Robux (their currency) and then turn it into real currency. The only condition is that you need to have at least 30,000 Robux (which is around $400) to convert it.

They state that the revenue split is 76/24. However, 47% of that is going to infrastructure needs like hosting, storage, or payment processing. So only the remainder 29% is going directly to developers.

Spatial.io
Like Roblox, Spatial has its currency, but it has a 70/30 revenue split. In this case, you need to have a minimum amount of 18,000 Spatial coins to cash out, which is around $100. They also stated that these coins are not crypto, so each coin has a fixed rate of $0.0057. It is a fairly new option, so you can check the details here if you are into it.

Key Takeaways
The industry standard for revenue split is 70/30.
Steam is the predominant marketplace, and with few exceptions, it is highly recommended to launch your game there.
Many huge companies are trying to create alternative places; however, they have not been very successful until today.
If you’re up for a little adventure and can adapt your game for new stores, try out a few to see what fits.
According to a 2021 GDC survey, a majority of developers feel a 30% profit cut is too high.
Final Notes
You will probably need to make individual changes to the game to enter each platform. Thus, it is challenging to get into all of them.
Some platforms have an upfront fee. Almost all have taxes and extra charges.
There is no guarantee that these platforms will not go bankrupt and vanish into the digital abyss one day, as we have seen similar examples. So be careful when spending money on them.
It would be best to decide which platform to choose not only by their revenue split but also by looking at what these platforms provide to showcase your game.
If you’ve got extra insights or spots that need a little polishing in this article, shout them out in the comments. And if this guide puts a grin on your face, share the love! https://bit.ly/100percentIntelligentCryptocurrencyVIP