Epic: no porn or crappy games on our store, exclusivity deals will eventually stop

A hot potato: While there might be a huge number of games on Steam, it's fair to say that some are, for want of a better word, crap. The store has also faced controversy for allowing virtually anything onto the platform. In what appears to be a dig at Valve, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said crappy games and porn are some of the things you won't find on the Epic Games Store.

Speaking to PC Gamer, Sweeney said his store has "a quality standard that doesn't accept crappy games." He explained that Epic would apply these standards "similar to what a movie theater might apply as to what movies they show."

Sweeney added that while it would take on mature games such as GTA V, "Epic's not going to distribute porn games or bloatware or asset flips, or any sort of thing that's meant to shock players."

In June last year, Valve said it would allow virtually anything on Steam, and that it would only remove games deemed illegal or outright trolling. This policy came under the spotlight recently when a store page for a sexual-assault game called Rape Day was discovered, which, following a barrage of criticism, was removed by Valve because of its "unknown costs and risks."

Sweeney still isn't certain how the store will filter out these type of games. "I think we'll be aware of the quality of what's submitted prior to making a decision to list it in the store---somehow," he said. "Humans can make those judgment calls, and they'll be pretty reasonable."

In other news, Epic Games Store head Steve Allison during a GDC 2019 Q&A said that the controversial exclusivity deals the company keeps securing won't continue indefinitely.

Metro Exodus, The Division 2, and Phoenix Point, have all skipped Steam in favor of Epic, mostly because it pays developers 88 percent of game sales revenue---an improvement over Steam, whose cut starts at 30 percent. Upcoming title The Outer Worlds is also set to be an Epic Games Store (and Microsoft Store) exclusive.

But Allison said: "I don't think we plan to [negotiate exclusives] forever. We'll probably do it for a while. It's just about pushing the business model, helping people thrive, but at some point hopefully people just come, or the industry moves down and matches us."

With a lot of people angry about being forced to use the Epic Games Store, and the company having to defend itself against accusations of data mining, some gamers will likely welcome the end of exclusives.