The creator of the XCOM franchise has claimed that the Epic Games Store is great for indie developers and games, after his studio Snapshot Games released Phoenix Point on the storefront as a timed exclusive in 2019.
Julian Gollop, who co-created the first X-COM game in 1994 at Mythos Games, has talked about the atmosphere and benefits of launching Phoenix Point as an initial Epic Games Store exclusive (via PC Gamer).
“When we did our Epic exclusive – this was the very early days of the Epic store promotion – yeah, there was a lot of hostility,” explained Gollop. “And also a lot of conspiracy theories about it. The whole Chinese spyware and all the rest of it.
“Obviously, that’s settled down a bit, and Epic has been great for many indies, in fact. It was another avenue to get funding, of course, which is very, very difficult to get with an indie studio. So overall, it was very positive for Phoenix Point itself.”
Not releasing on the same day across all storefronts on PC naturally means a developer’s game will be seen by a smaller audience, but Gollop notes how studios will often do whatever they can to get a game out in the first place.
