Ubisoft: Steam has unrealistic revenue model

Chris Early of Ubisoft has described Steam’s current revenue model as ‘unrealistic’ in a conversation with The New York Times. The fact that The Division 2 did not appear on Valve’s platform is related to that, according to him.

Early, a vice president at Ubisoft, says the decision not to release Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 on Steam was prompted by Valve’s refusal to change its revenue-sharing business model. He calls this business model “unrealistic” and in his view it does not reflect where the world stands today in terms of game distribution.

It’s not entirely clear what aspect Early is referring to, but it’s probably Valve’s policy that developers must give up 30 percent of the proceeds from their games sold on Steam. For games that bring in more than ten million dollars, that drops to 25 percent.

Epic Games has been attacking Valve since the end of last year with its own online store, the Epic Games Store. Unlike Valve, the maker of Fortnite does not ask for 30 percent of the turnover, but 12 percent. Partly because of this difference in rates, some game companies do not release their games on Steam or not immediately upon release.

Initially, it looked like The Division 2, which was released on March 15, would also appear on Steam. The predecessor also became available on Valve’s platform, but in the end Ubisoft chose to offer the game on the Epic Games Store and its own online store.

Epic Games often negotiates exclusivity deals, where a publisher or developer is not allowed to offer his game on Steam. For example, Metro Exodus will not be available on Steam until February 2020. The game has been out and available for purchase on the Epic Games store since February 15.