In a slew of non-game, PC apps joining the Epic Games Store today, the popular indie game online store, itch.io, is among them. In addition, people can now also download separate apps for the web browser Brave, the online radio iHeartRadio, KenShape, Krita, and more. This follows after Spotify became the first PC app to join the service late last year.
For those unfamiliar with itch.io, it is a website for people to sell and buy indie games; it also hosts game jams throughout the year as well where people are challenged to create a playable game in a limited time. There are well over 200,00 titles on the platform for prospective players to look through and play. And now, Epic is bringing this website to its own storefront. One of the representatives from itch.io explained the decision to join another store as thus.
Bringing the itch.io app to the Epic Games Store will give us an opportunity to widen the audience of people who can discover the diverse collection of indie works that we host.
However, for those worried that Epic will take a cut from itch.io, they do not need to worry. Once users open the app, they will be directed to itch.io and Epic is no longer a part of the process. Therefore, Epic will not be taking a cut of any of the sales made on itch.io.
Today, all the aforementioned apps are available on the Epic Games Store. In the future, we can expect Epic to continue to expand its storefront to more non-gaming applications such as the communications app, Discord, as well as the social networking app, Houseparty.