New Xbox Will Feature Epic Games Store "On Day One"

The launch window for the next generation of consoles is still unknown, but when it happens, Epic Games plans to have its store on one of the major systems on "day one." According to Epic's Steve Allison, Microsoft has already conveyed that the Epic Games Store is welcome on the new Xbox console.

"We definitely plan to be on the new hardware for Xbox," Allison told Game File. "Because, unless their policy or stance on it changes, they are telling us they're going to welcome that. And we're going be there, like, on day one. That will probably require us to build in whatever their requirements are, some sort of software to support that."

If that goes forward, it could change the fundamental way that console players purchase digital games. PC gamers are able to use any digital marketplace, but Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have their own proprietary gaming outlets. It's been a closed ecosystem through the current console generation. Adding Epic Games Store to the next Xbox would essentially be inviting players to spend money at a rival to the Xbox store that would have otherwise gone to Microsoft. It could also lead to pricing wars, if games available on both storefronts are cheaper on the other outlet.