Today we announced a new label for Epic Games Publishing, making Epic a multi-platform publisher. Just as it did when it revealed its entry into the digital storefront business, it promises to do things a little differently, in a way that will be very attractive to developers.

Under the new publishing label, Remedy is already planning to release games by the developers of "The Last Guardian," "Limbo," and "Control," with "Control" already available exclusively on Epic's store until at least August. Remedy already has a working relationship with Epic, with "Control" being sold exclusively in Epic's stores until at least August, but as the publisher, Remedy will have many other responsibilities beyond distribution. [Epic says it will cover up to 100% of development costs, including salaries, QA, localization, and marketing, but developers will not have to relinquish ownership or creative control of their games. As for profit sharing, the developer will get at least 50 percent after Epic recovers its costs.

Although there are many different types of publishing agreements these days, especially with the advent of "indie publishers," Epic's terms appear to be very generous. For developers, the promise of full creative control while retaining their intellectual property must be quite attractive, and even more so if Epic is potentially covering all development and publishing costs. Some publishers may offer a more favorable profit-sharing arrangement to the developer, but in every other respect, the developer will likely have the upper hand. [Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, said, "We are building the publishing model we always wanted when working with publishers. This is the same idea that Sweeney said was behind the Epic Games Store, which is also touted as a more developer-friendly deal.

However, like Epic's store strategy, its sustainability is questionable; Epic invests money in exclusive launches and weekly free games to entice people to install another platform, and last April Sweeney said that free and exclusive games investments would exceed the store's annual net income. And it looks like he was right: in January, Epic announced that $680 million was spent on the store, which looks like a loss when you factor in the revenue sharing Epic gets 12 percent and the cost of the exclusivity deal, which includes more than $10 million to Control.

It may not be as big a gamble as the store, as Epic recoups its costs before splitting profits with developers, but the initial cost is likely to be significant. Also, depending on how long it takes to develop, it will be quite some time before we see a payback. It would be good to have the funds for Fortnite.

Launching a publishing label won't be as divisive or ruffle feathers as launching a Steam competitor, but it still has the potential to shake things up, and Epic is absolutely making a statement by boasting about its terms up front, which is sure to be resounding It's sure to draw a lot of attention.

Remedy also offered some details about what they are working on with Epic. The deal is actually for two games: the first is a "AAA multiplatform game" that Remedy has already begun pre-production on; the second is set in the same world, but will be smaller in scale; and the third is a "game that will be a game that will be a game that will be a game that will be a game that will be a game of the same world, but will be set in a different world. Both will use Remedy's Northlight engine.

"This partnership extends Remedy's strategy of developing its own IP into a long-term franchise," said Remedy's CEO, David H. Harris. And it will be available on consoles and PC "in the coming years."

More information about publishing labels, as well as development partners and games, will be forthcoming in the coming months. I am particularly interested in the support for the PC platform: will Epic's games only be listed on their own store, or will they also be available on Steam, GOG, etc.? At least a timed exclusive seems likely, but Epic has not said anything yet.