STALKER 2 Is a 3-Month Console Exclusive; Microsoft Considered Increasing Revenue Share for Xbox Games, Too [UPDATED]

[UPDATE 2] A new statement was issued by Microsoft on the matter:

We will not be updating the revenue split for console publishers.

This suggests the company has backtracked entirely on its original plans.

[UPDATE] A Microsoft spokesperson told The Verge that there are no plans to change the revenue share for the Xbox store 'at this time'.

Needless to say, the specific diction leaves Microsoft free to change this in the almost future. The document from earlier this year clearly mentions the plan was at that place only a brusk while agone, and it'southward hard to imagine it was scrapped entirely. It is more probable that Microsoft is waiting to drop that announcement at a later appointment, such as E3 2021, for example.

[ORIGINAL STORY] The Epic 5. Apple tree legal fight continues to indirectly provide a wealth of information through the documents that are slowly being made public. A couple of days ago, the free legal research website Court Listener updated the example with a plethora of downloadable documents, some of which reveal interesting information most Microsoft'south plans.

As you might recall, Microsoft publicly expressed support for Ballsy early on on when Apple tree went as far as trying to cake admission to the Apple tree SDK for all Unreal Engine developers. Last week, Microsoft likewise announced the introduction of a meliorate revenue share for game developers on the PC Microsoft Store: from August 1st onward, they'll get 88% of the revenue from selling their PC games on the platform instead of 70%, matching Ballsy's initiative.

Nevertheless, this document originally penned in January 2021 reveals that Microsoft plans to do the aforementioned for the Microsoft Store on Xbox. The timeframe of the declaration is the same as that for the Microsoft Store on PC, which could propose the official news is incoming. Of class, plans may have inverse slightly in these terminal few months, leading to a delay of this part.

It would be groundbreaking news in the console gaming space, frankly. Consoles have ever been walled gardens where platform holders were able to dictate their fee, which has been conventionally set to 30%. If Microsoft dropped its fee to a mere 12% on Xbox, too, it may gear up a precedent to entice developers to flock to the platform. It'll also be interesting to see if and how competitors like Sony and Nintendo will answer to such a significant business model change.

In another internal Microsoft document labeled as 'Executive Portfolio Update', nosotros also learned the exclusivity details for some ID@XBOX games. The about of import is undoubtedly GSC Game World's Due south.T.A.L.Grand.Due east.R. ii, which will be a panel sectional for 3 months. This suggests the developers will exist free to release it on PlayStation 5 after the exclusivity deal is over.

There'due south also an estimated release date window of Q4 2021, though this certificate is from Baronial 2020, and a delay is far from unlikely. Furthermore, the slide below mentions a six-month exclusivity on 'continued updates' for Tetris Issue: Connected and a perpetual exclusive agreement for The Gunk, which means that this game will never be released on other consoles.

That's all the relevant info we were able to detect, merely we'll keep looking in case annihilation else worth reporting on Microsoft or whatever other game visitor is unearthed through the Ballsy five. Apple court documents.

The legal battle officially begins side by side week, by the style. Stay tuned for updates straight from the tribunal, too, in what is expected to exist an ballsy fight that could bring nigh massive shifts in the sector of digital stores.