Tom Clancy"s The Division 2 hopped over to the Epic Games Store in a surprise move last month, dropping the original Steam launch plans. While fan reactions to games switching to the Epic Games Store haven"t really been positive, it seems Ubisoft"s course of action has been a success.
In an earnings call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said the pre-order numbers for the PC version are "higher than for the first Division," with the Ubisoft Store alone bringing in six times as much pre-orders than before.
Driving customers to the Ubisoft Store looks to have been the plan all along for the company, offering an alternative that is still more familiar than the new arrival to the scene. Ubisoft gets to avoid Steam"s initial 30% cut while fans who pick up the game from Epic Games Store will still bring in more money thanks to Epic"s 12% revenue split offer.
"There is a growing number of distribution platforms fighting for great content," said Guillemot. "With this deal, we saw an opportunity to increase player"s exposure to our own store, while at the same time supporting a partner that greatly values our games and provides materially better terms."
According to the original announcement that revealed the move, Ubisoft is planning to bring even more games to the Epic Games Store in 2019, although no specific titles have been named yet.
The Division 2 is slated to launch on March 15, while a four-day open beta will kick off on March 1. Also, Ubisoft announced yesterday that digital pre-orders of the PC version will come with an additional game, giving a choice between Watch Dogs 2, Ghost Recon Wildlands, or Far Cry Primal.