The Epic Games Store is adding yet another feature long requested by fans, launching mod support for games on the storefront starting with MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries. The relatively new storefront drew a lot of ire after its launch for its common practice of signing exclusive distribution deals with developers, but its pro-developer policies have also earned it a lot of fans in the games industry.
When the Epic Games Store launched, it wasn’t just the company’s contracts that irked players. Unlike the well-established Steam storefront, the Epic Games Store lacked a lot of functionality that players had come to expect, such as reviews, wishlists, and even a simple shopping cart. Epic Games has been working to catch up to its competitors since then, adding in wishlists, critic reviews (but not user reviews), and achievements, but still no shopping carts.
Now, Epic Games is taking another big step with its storefront, adding yet another feature that once set Steam apart. While it’s still in beta for now, Epic Games Store is starting to offer mod support for its games with a system much like the Steam Workshop. Developer Piranha Games announced in a blog post that its recent MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries will be the first game to take part in the Epic Games Store Mods feature. Mods for MechWarrior 5 already existed, but Epic Games Store Mods will make it easier for players to find and install them without needing to search on an external site or tinker with the game’s files at all to get them running. Currently, there are only 12 mods available - significantly fewer than what’s already available on Nexus Mods - but Piranha Games says that more are on the way.
At launch, it wasn’t clear how much of a role the Epic Games Store would play in PC distribution. Even with Epic Games behind it, it has fewer games and a barebones features list compared to other storefronts. Despite that, the Epic Games Store won over developers with its more generous profit sharing and players with a steady stream of free games and deep discounts. While that certainly made an impression, Epic’s recent investments in making it a better storefront and launcher seem to be much more sustainable.
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries may not be the highest profile game to debut the new mod integration, but as an Epic Games Store exclusive with an active modding community, it’s a good choice to show the feature off. Now that Epic Games has taken the lid off mod support, it’s only a matter of time before more games start taking advantage of it.
Source: Piranha Games
