Web3 and the Future of Digital Stores: Will the 30% Commission Model Change?

In 2026, digital distribution and Web3 intersect amid growing questions about control and monetization. For decades, digital distribution has been built around the 30% model. Today, however, the question is no longer the size of the commission, but control over the economy itself.

This is no longer just platform competition. It is a clash of three models:

• centralized ecosystem
• corporate alternative
• decentralized economy

Platform Features and Quantitative Indicators

Digital game stores are a key factor in developers’ success and player convenience. Let us compare the two largest platforms, Steam and Epic Games Store, in terms of functionality, market indicators, and possible future development scenarios.

Steam: The Veteran of Digital Distribution

Steam is the world’s largest digital distribution platform by Valve, launched in 2003. It holds a dominant position across several key indicators:

• Game Library: tens of thousands of titles, including AAA projects, indie games, VR titles, and early access releases.
• Audience: the largest user base among PC digital stores according to analysts’ estimates:
  • 147 million monthly active users as of 2025.
  • Approximately 69 million daily active users.
  • The platform regularly breaks records for concurrent online users: a peak of over 41.8 million simultaneous connections was recorded in early 2026.
• Developer Tools: advanced analytics, a marketplace with secondary sales, achievements, cloud saves, and a mod workshop.
• Community Features: groups, forums, user reviews, broadcasts, in-game chat.

Steam traditionally takes around a 30% commission on sales, but once a game exceeds $10 million in revenue, the rate decreases to 25%, and after $50 million, it drops to 20%. This combination of a massive audience and a developed ecosystem attracts both major publishers and small studios. Additional tools, including modding support and integration through Steam Workshop, help extend a game’s lifecycle and increase community engagement.

Position on Web3

Steam takes a conservative stance: the platform restricts the use of blockchain technologies and NFTs in games. This reflects a strategy focused on ecosystem control and a commitment to a stable centralized model.

From a market perspective, this can be seen as protecting traditional infrastructure from radical transformation associated with Web3 and external token economies.

Epic Games Store: A Young Challenger to the Market

Epic Games Store was launched in 2018 by Epic Games and from the beginning positioned itself as an alternative focused on favorable conditions for developers:

• Commission: only 12%, nearly three times lower than Steam’s standard model.
• Exclusives and Marketing: Epic активно invests in exclusive releases, bonuses, and free games to attract users.
• Integration with Unreal Engine: developers using Unreal receive additional royalty benefits.

Although Epic’s user base is smaller than Steam’s, active marketing strategies allow the platform to rapidly increase market share and attract developers with favorable conditions. Exclusive projects raise platform awareness and help attract both users and developers.

Position on Web3:

Epic Games Store takes a more flexible stance toward Web3 projects and allows blockchain games as long as they comply with platform rules. Unlike Steam, Epic acts as a “bridge” between the traditional model and new economic systems.

Here the logic of being an “enemy of monopoly” becomes apparent supporting technologies that allow developers to retain a larger share of revenue and experiment with alternative ownership models.

In this context, Epic becomes a kind of “Trojan horse” for the Web3 industry: through support of modern engines and infrastructure, Web3 can integrate into traditional games as an invisible economic layer.

Comparative Table of Key Parameters

Web3 as a Tool for “Breaking” the 30% Model

Steam does not simply defend a 30% commission  it protects control over the entire ecosystem. The platform keeps distribution, payments, the secondary market, and user data within its system. Any attempt to move the economy outside the store through NFTs or external tokens encounters restrictions.

Epic acts differently. It does not break stores but shifts the standard by lowering the commission and allowing Web3 projects within its framework. The platform remains an intermediary but flexibly redefines the boundaries of what is permitted.

Web3 offers a different approach. It is not a “0% commission” model, but it gives players control over in-game property that they do not have in Steam: tokens and NFTs exist outside the store, while royalties and in-game markets can function directly between players.

For developers, this means direct access to the audience, ongoing revenue from resales, flexibility in monetization, and the ability to build an economy not limited by platform rules. The platform ceases to be a mandatory monetization channel and becomes one of several possible distribution paths.

Future Development Scenarios and Their Impact on Platforms

Scenario 1: Intensified Competition and Lower Commissions

Epic continues to pressure the market with favorable commissions and exclusives. If other platforms begin lowering their rates, this could become the new industry standard. Steam has already partially adapted its model, but the pressure will remain.

Impact:

• Developers retain more profit.
• More favorable conditions stimulate the emergence of new projects.
• Users benefit from increased game diversity and promotions.

Scenario 2: Steam Retains Leadership

1. Strengthening the Social and Service Ecosystem

Steam has a powerful community core and analytical tools that help maintain leadership. If the platform further develops its services (for example, expanded features for streamers, cross-platform progression, etc.), it will reinforce its status as a central hub for gamers.

Impact:

• Major projects remain at the center of attention on Steam.
• Users gain deeper social interaction.
• Epic may lag behind without comparable services.

2. Convenience vs. Technological Complexity

An important argument in favor of traditional platforms is that Web3 tools are still relatively complex for mass users. Working with wallets, access keys, tokens, and blockchain infrastructure requires an additional level of understanding and responsibility. For a broad audience, this creates an entry barrier compared to the familiar “download and play” model. Therefore, convenience, stability, and an integrated ecosystem remain strong competitive advantages of classic stores.

Scenario 3: A New Player or Market Transformation

The emergence of a new player with innovative solutions (for example, integration of Web3 features, metaverses, or new economic models) could change the rules of the game. Both stores would be forced to adapt or cooperate with new ecosystems.

Impact:

• The market becomes more fragmented.
• Games may launch simultaneously on multiple platforms under different conditions.
• Users will choose platforms based on their own priorities (price, social features, exclusives).

Telegram may play a special role in this process as a new P2E platform thanks to built-in mini-apps and crypto wallets, it simplifies onboarding and creates an alternative channel for distributing games and digital assets.

Conclusion: Who Will Take the Pot?

The 30% model was long considered the industry standard, but today it is no longer the only option. Hybrid stores, Web3 distribution, mini-apps, and direct monetization channels are emerging. Platform control is no longer perceived as inevitable.

Epic Games Store has already proven that the rate can be reduced to 12%, effectively breaking the previous standard. This is not the destruction of the platform model, but its transformation.

Web3 goes further by proposing minimized intermediaries, external tokens, and asset ownership outside the store. However, questions remain regarding infrastructure, traffic, and monetization.

In reality, competition in 2026 is not “30% versus 0%,” but a struggle for control over cash flows and user relationships. Steam defends stability and ecosystem control, Epic expands acceptable boundaries and lowers commissions, and Web3 questions the very role of the centralized platform.

Ultimately, the market will be captured by those who can combine a sustainable business model, economic benefits for developers, technological flexibility, and a genuine sense of value and ownership for players.