In a move that will change the PC gaming landscape, Microsoft has announced that they will reduce their cut from 30 percent to just 12 percent starting from 1 August 2021 for games on the Microsoft Store. This move is clearly a bid to compete with Steam and attract developers to bring their PC games to the Microsoft Store.

Microsoft Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty said (via The Verge):

“Game developers are at the heart of bringing great games to our players, and we want them to find success on our platforms.

A clear, no-strings-attached revenue share means developers can bring more games to more players and find greater commercial success from doing so.”

However, it’s important to point out that these changes will only affect PC games and not Xbox console games in the Microsoft Store, so console games will remain unaffected. Meanwhile, the Microsoft Store’s new reduction means that it is now on par with the Epic Games Store. On the other hand, Valve’s Steam is still the biggest PC platform in the world, despite still taking a 30 percent cut on their platform.

According to the Xbox news post, Microsoft will continue to improve their platform with ray tracing and other better software updates. This includes improved install reliability and faster download speeds over the next few months. It looks like Steam has a new huge rival to look out for.