Microsoft is reducing its cut to 12% for game publishers on the Windows Store

Microsoft is reducing the revenue it takes from game publishers on the Windows Store to 12%, from the 30% it currently stands at. The new pricing will go into effect from August 1, putting Valve on notice that the rest of the online storefronts are now cheaper to publish on.

This change only affects games released on the PC side of the Windows Store and not games for Microsoft’s Xbox console. That’s likely because games are the primary source of revenue for the console business, which often sells the hardware at a loss to get more users to sell games and services to.

“Game developers are at the heart of bringing great games to our players, and we want them to find success on our platforms,” says Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios at Microsoft.

The new cut Microsoft will take matches that of Epic Games, which set the 12% cut when it opened its own storefront. Valve’s Steam platform still takes 30% of all sales on its platform until a game hits $10 million, where it reduces to 25%, then 20% once the game hits $50 million in total sales.

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The thing is, revenue sharing for publishers isn’t the only thing that affects customer sales. Steam has been around the longest, so it has more gamers signed up, which have more games in their libraries, and more developed social features.

To truly compete, other game storefronts need to truly innovate, while giving developers all the tools they need to fight against cheating and hacking in online games.

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Joe Rice-Jones

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