Not too long ago, 2017 in fact, we shared the announcement trailer for an upcoming horror title called Close to the Sun. Last year it was announced that Storm in a Teacup's title would be published by Wired Productions and a new announcement trailer landed. News has just landed that the game will now be launching exclusively for PC on the Epic Games Store.
Close to the Sun tells the story of the player controlled protagonist, Rose as she wanders a ship in search of her sister. The choice to push the games PC launch to the Epic Games Store seems to be a rather personal one, one that the press release goes into.
The developers at Storm in a Teacup had switched from using Unity and instead moved over to the Unreal Engine 4 to continue development on Close to the Sun. The change apparently "led to huge increases in fidelity and quality within the game" offering players a better experience.
The success the studio saw before signing on with Wired Productions led them to secure an Unreal Dev Grant, These grants can range from $5,000 to $50,000 and allows developers to work on their projects and publish however they wish with no strings attached. Wired Productions Managing Director Leo Zullo said:
"Success in this industry is hard to come by and the industry relies on each other to drive progress. Great games need great developers, who need great tech, who need great publishers, who need great distribution opportunities."
Carlo Ivo Alimo Bianchi, the CEO of Storm in a Teacup mentions that their relationship with Epic Games and the decision to use the Unreal Engine 4 to create Close to the Sun has allowed them more creative freedom and the "ability to double-down on quality for out games." He also mentions about launching on the Epic Games Store:
"To launch on the Epic Games store feels like the perfect next step and we are delighted that our partnerships with both Wired Productions and Epic Games will help propel Close to the Sun to achieve our ambitions."
It's no lie that Epic Games has wooed developers and publishers over with their new store, especially with the 88% revenue share as opposed to Steam's 70%. We've seen a range of games move their PC versions exclusively to the Epic Games Store, such as Metro Exodus, The Division 2, and even World War Z.
Close to the Sun is just another title heading to the new store for PC, however, it will also launch on PS4 and Xbox One at some point this year.