In a surprising announcement earlier today, Ubisoft stated that they have come to an agreement with Epic Games to partner on multiple titles including the hotly anticipated Division 2. The of course means that these titles will not be playable on Steam.
As reported by Gamesindustry.biz, Epic’s VP Chris Early had the following to say about the deal:
Chris Early, vice president of partnerships at Ubisoft added: “We entrust Epic to deliver a smooth journey for our fans, from pre-ordering the game and enjoying our Beta to the launch… Epic continues to disrupt the video game industry, and their third party digital distribution model is the latest example, and something Ubisoft wants to support.”
Our Take
Steam has long held a near monopoly on PC gaming. But with competition from EA, Blizzard, Windows, and now Epic, that grip seems to be slipping. The landscape for PC gaming could look vastly different in the coming years. It will be interesting to see how Valve responds given the new found competition. While competition is certainly good, and was long overdue, it could be messy for PC gamers for a while.
