Core Available on Epic Games Store in Early Access

From Adventure Games Studio and RPG Maker to Roblox and Little Big Planet, do-it-yourself game creation tools allow passionate gamers and aspiring developers to craft unique experiences with little to no programming experience. Manticore Games’ Core hopes to take user-made game content to the next level.

Core launched in Early Access on April 15th and is free-to-play from the Epic Games Store. Manticore also uploaded two new trailers showcasing the vast array of games users can create on the platform.

Manticore Games frequently describes Core as a “creator multiverse.” That concept was on display in the Early Access Trailer, which followed an interdimensional explorer. He travels through an array of player-created worlds, including RPGs, first-person shooters, racers, space sims, and farming simulators. The platform also boasts deck builders, MOBAS, and the creatively bizarre text-based shooter Tumbleweed Typo Hunters.

Core’s open Alpha began in March 2020. The platform already boasts over one million players and 20,000 free games. Its March 4 update also introduced Core World. This is a unique hub area where players can socialize and store their favorite characters and mounts. It also serves as a nexus where players can jump into new and popular games available on the Core platform.

Manticore describes Core as the gaming equivalent of the video-sharing site YouTube. The studio hopes it will revolutionize game creation in the same way YouTube did for video. It utilizes Epic’s unreal engine and includes tools to allow up-and-coming creators to build games with zero programming experience. Epic invested heavily in Core, contributing a reported $15 million to the platform’s development.

Manticore is celebrating Core’s exclusive early access release on the Epic Game Store by offering exclusive heroes and mounts to new and existing players that link their accounts. The company also plans to introduce new features including, but not limited to, persistent player housing and an asset marketplace as active development continues.

Ever since its launch, the Epic Games Store has been a point of contention among players. There are several reasons for this, including the discovery that it is draining device batteries very fast. However many players' complaints, especially when the storefront launched, was its rapid acquisition of exclusives, even including games that had previously been promised a release on Steam.

This process involved Epic Games spending a lot of money to secure the titles, but it seemed to be working for them up based on the number of players that model attracted. Yet recent documentation appears to have debunked this, as it looks like the Epic Games Store is not actually doing so well, and Epic Games' CEO has weighed in on the matter.

According to a recent court filing, the Epic Game Store has lost hundreds of millions for Epic Games. Despite many accounts registered and the large amount of revenue brought in, the storefront is apparently losing even more money than it is making. Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, has given his two cents on this revelation via Twitter, reframing the past and projected revenue loss as an investment. According to Sweeney, the amount lost by the Store will create a foundation for its successful future.