If you haven’t seen it already, you should check out the latest video put out by the Epic Games Store, where they highlighted some exciting new games coming to the platform, including Axiom Verge 2! I know that exclusive arrangements often raise a lot of questions for people, so I wanted to explain the reasons why I decided to sign with Epic.
First off, Epic has been incredibly supportive of Axiom Verge from the beginning. They gave me a heads up about 6 months before they even announced their plans for a store and enabled lots of new players to try out the game. They have subsidized multiple sales, meaning we get the best of both worlds - revenue from a full price sale for me but half price (or less!) for players. Even when they don’t have any special promotions going on, their going royalty rate of 88% has set what will hopefully become an industry-wide standard.
But I’d be lying if I said the only reason I decided to go exclusive on Epic was because I’m a fan of the platform and all the wonderful people who work there. (Though I am, and they are.) When I first started development on the original Axiom Verge about 10 years ago, it was my side hobby. I had a well paying job with benefits, and my dog and I lived a very low maintenance lifestyle. I wasn’t really expecting Axiom Verge to pay the bills. I was hoping it’d make enough so that I could treat myself to a new car or, failing that, maybe a new PC. To say that life is very different for me now would be an understatement. Axiom Verge is my job now. I have a wife and child who depend on me and the game. I love that I get to work on my hobby all day, but at the same time, I’m always aware of the responsibility I have to my family. I don’t want to go into too many details about the nature of the arrangement I have with Epic other than to say that I’ve been able to put my stress about how the game will perform out of my mind for a bit and just focus on making the game I want to make. Making games can be fun, but it can also be stressful. With this deal in place, game development started feeling like a hobby again.
For Steam fans out there, please know that it will be coming your way eventually. The Steam team at Valve has also been incredibly supportive of Axiom Verge, and my decision to partner with Epic on this is in no way a comment on my relationship with Valve. Without Valve’s embrace of indie game development so long ago, there might not even have been an indie scene. No Valve, no indie scene, no Axiom Verge. Before I signed with Epic, my business partner Dan Adelman spoke with Valve and explained our thought process. Although they were disappointed not to have Axiom Verge 2 at launch, they understood that this was the right decision both for this game and my family. As for other platforms, I’ve already announced that the game will be coming to Nintendo Switch. I’ve been lucky that I’ve had great support from Sony and Microsoft over the years so I hope to be able to talk about my plans on those systems soon.
www.axiomverge2.com
