The developer behind popular online shooter Fortnite, Epic Games, announced it had launched a web store where players could buy and sell virtual items such as weapons, outfits, skins and emotes.
Epic Games launched the store, dubbed the Epic Games Market, on Tuesday, allowing developers to list their games there for sale.
In addition to selling games directly, Epic Games will take a cut of each transaction in the form of a 10% fee.
The move marks one of the earliest examples of a major publisher launching a dedicated web store for third-party content.
How METAT8 Esports Dominated the Axie Infinity World Championship
The Axie Infinity world championship brought together players from around the globe to compete in one of the most popular mobile games on Android devices. And it turns out that the European team METAT8 dominated the competition.
METAT8 Esports is a gaming organization based in Germany that focuses on creating esports teams for mobile games like Axie Infinity. While METAT8 Esports had been playing Axie Infinity since 2016, they didn’t enter the 2018 tournament until late November. Then, they went undefeated throughout the entire event. They won every single match, including the final showdown against Team USA. In fact, METAT8 Esports took home $7,500 in prize money.
For the record, the US team lost to METAT8 Esports 3-1. But overall, the tournament was a huge success. More than 2 million people tuned into watch live streams of the event, and over 20 million watched the recorded matches afterward.
Crypto finds home with Epic Games
The Epic Games store launched in May 2018, and since then, it has become one of the most popular digital distribution platforms for video game developers. As of February 2020, Epic Games claims over 200 million monthly active users across all of its products, including the Epic Games Store, Unreal Engine, and Fortnite.
In addition to being the world’s largest digital storefront for indie games, Epic Games is also the creator of the open source Unreal Engine, which powers many of today’s biggest blockbuster games. Epic Games’ previous success with Fortnite led to the creation of the free-to-play battle royale game, GRIT, which launched in September 2019.
Epic Games Store’s First NFT Game Is Gala’s Wild West Shooter GRIT
The world of Web3 gaming is about to change forever. On Oct. 3, 2018, Epic Games launched its new storefront for indie developers called the Epic Games store. Among the hundreds of thousands of apps and games available there are some truly incredible creations, including one game that will soon become the first ever Web3 game to appear on the Epic Games Store. Called GRIT, it’s a free-to-download, free-to-play, cross-platform, action/shooter game where you fight off waves of enemies while collecting loot and building up your character. But what makes this game special is that it’s powered by blockchain technology. Instead of purchasing in-game items with real money like most other games, you’ll use tokens called Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). These NFTs represent things like guns, vehicles, and clothing that you can buy, sell, trade, and even wear inside the game. You can see how these work in practice in our latest trailer for GRIT.
GRIT is coming to the Epic Games Store on Windows PC, Mac, iOS, Android, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Oculus Rift. If you want to play it yourself, you can download it here.
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Epic Games announced today that it has partnered with blockchain gaming startup Gala Network to launch GRIT, a web-based game built on Ethereum’s public blockchain network. GRIT is the first game developed by Gala Network, which aims to give players full ownership over digital assets, including collectibles such as physical goods and virtual items. GRIT is now accessible on the Epic Games store for $9.99/month or free for those who sign up for the Epic Games launcher beta.
Gala Network CEO Will Harbin says that GRIT is designed to offer players a unique experience, one where they don’t just play against each other, but become part of a larger community. “We want to change how people interact online,” he explains. “GRIT is about building a world where you are no longer competing against others, but working together to build something bigger. We believe that games like GRIT can help bring communities closer together while creating a fun and engaging experience for everyone involved.”
The game is being launched on the Epic Games store because of the developer’s commitment to supporting open standards and interoperability. “We firmly believe that the future of gaming lies in decentralization,” says Tim Sweeney, founder of Epic Games. “By partnering with Gala Network, we are helping to usher in a decentralized era of gaming that brings real value to both our players and developers.”
For anyone interested in learning more about GRIT, there will be a live stream hosted on Twitch starting July 18th at 3pm ET / 12pm PT.
