World War Z developers Saber Interactive are reaping the benefits of having their title listed as an Epic Games Store exclusive on PC.
The makers of the 2019 Zombie shooter have enjoyed some remarkable success, albeit quietly, with World War Z selling better than expected.
The title sold over 1 million copies in the first week of its release and has since gone on to sell over another million copies, with 700,000 sales attributed to the Epic Games Store, according to Saber CEO Matthew Karch.
“We always believed the game would find a good following on PC eventually,” Karch told PCGamesN recently. “The surprise was just how quickly it happened, and how important Epic’s platform was in getting us there.
“On the PC specifically, we are performing way above expectations thanks to the support we have received from the Epic Games Store.”
Epic exclusivity does come with some controversy. The platform tends to give exclusives a marketing push and makes sure everyone knows the game won't be available on Steam, since that will also be newsworthy.
Despite the continuous backlash, World War Z is thriving. The fact that it was part of the store's first major sale didn't hurt either.
Karch was also full of praise for Epic after the game sold a million units back in April.
"Saber is extremely thrilled by the performance of the game on all platforms," he said in a press release. "On the PC specifically, we are performing way above expectations thanks to the support we have received from the Epic Games Store.
Sony, though, is the leading sales platform for the game due to its physical sales, but Karch did not think the game would have done as well as it has on PC. He also says he doesn't understand the negative attention Epic has been drawing.
“We don’t see backlash when console manufacturers create games that are just for their hardware, and buying a system for a game is obviously a much more onerous requirement," he says. "My hope is that once there is feature parity on the PC platforms, we won’t hear as much complaining.”