What do you define a "level playing field" as? What is Steam doing that is preventing this from existing? Has Steam done something to hinder the existence of GOG, Itch.io, Kongregate's Kartridge, Discord's Game Store, Amazon's Digital Game Store, RobotCache, Microsoft Store, EA's Origin, Epic Store, etc.,?You guys are caught in trivial details. It does not matter if it is Steam's fault or not. If the consumers want healthy competition eventually, having a more level playing field is a good thing for them. This is hard to happen with one competitor having 90% of the power, and thus in position to pull all the strings. That's what I called "practically a near-monopoly". That's what it practically is.
I agree that it is not black and white, but Epic's methods are not black and white either (and fwiw Valve are not saints themselves).
What do you define a "level playing field" as? What is Steam doing that is preventing this from existing? Has Steam done something to hinder the existence of GOG, Itch.io, Kongregate's Kartridge, Discord's Game Store, Amazon's Digital Game Store, RobotCache, Microsoft Store, EA's Origin, Epic Store, etc.,?
Steamworks, a service offered in exchange for platform dependency, has kept many multiplayer games from being released on GOG et al.
But it's a choice made by the developer, not a requirement to use the Steam platform.What do you define a "level playing field" as? What is Steam doing that is preventing this from existing? Has Steam done something to hinder the existence of GOG, Itch.io, Kongregate's Kartridge, Discord's Game Store, Amazon's Digital Game Store, RobotCache, Microsoft Store, EA's Origin, Epic Store, etc.,?
Steamworks, a service offered in exchange for platform dependency, has kept many multiplayer games from being released on GOG et al.
although it does make for a better underdog story
I honestly don't understand how anyone, Chris Avellone included, can think that Obsidian management has anything to do with this decision, at all.
Tags: Obsidian Entertainment; The Outer Worlds
Despite enjoying an extremely positive debut and having the marketing muscle of not one but two major publishers in its corner, the powers that be have apparently decided that The Outer Worlds must make moar money. At their GDC keynote today, Epic Games announced that The Outer Worlds will be launching on the Epic Games Store, which offers an an advantageous revenue share. It won't come out on Steam until a year afterwards. The game is not quite an Epic-exclusive however, since it's also launching on Microsoft's own Microsoft Store platform, and on consoles of course. There's no fancy trailer or press release for this announcement, just this tweet:
As you can see from the replies, many people are upset about this. Patrice Desilets' Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, another Private Division title, was also announced as an Epic-exclusive at the keynote, so it appears to be a publisher decision. If you're an Epic-hater at least you've got the Microsoft Store option, although that means dealing with UWP or whatever it's called.
I honestly don't understand how anyone, Chris Avellone included, can think that Obsidian management has anything to do with this decision, at all.
He'sprobablydefinitely just being a dick, but somebody can hop in there and mention that the other Private Division game, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, went Epic-exclusive too. It's not a coincidence.
I honestly don't understand how anyone, Chris Avellone included, can think that Obsidian management has anything to do with this decision, at all.
He'sprobablydefinitely just being a dick, but somebody can hop in there and mention that the other Private Division game, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, went Epic-exclusive too. It's not a coincidence.
FTFY. I like MCA, but the more he continues to go after Obsidian at every opportunity, the harder it is to buy into his 'life is amazing, I'm so happy, nothing could possibly trouble me' vibe.
Do you really think that Obsidian had zero say in it? That it's some nobody Take2 can do with as they please? And I suppose it's a coincidence that it's the only Epic "exclusive" that's going to be released on Windows Store? How thoughtful of Take2.I honestly don't understand how anyone, Chris Avellone included, can think that Obsidian management has anything to do with this decision, at all.
He's probably just being a dick, but somebody should hop in there and mention that the other Private Division game, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, went Epic-exclusive too. It's not a coincidence.
Do you really think that Obsidian had zero say in it?
Do you really think that Obsidian had zero say in it? That it's some nobody Take2 can do with as they please? And I suppose it's a coincidence that it's the only Epic "exclusive" that's going to be released on Windows Store? How thoughtful of Take2.
Doesn't this mean he also waited around for weeks without telling the devs since he also knew?
What's funny is that piracy doesn't poof out of nowhere. Someone buys the game, cracks it, and makes it available to others. There are the people who pirate their games, and the people who have enabled piracy. And these people have literally no reason to do so, because they already own the game.
Then other platforms should offer the service as well if they want compete. Did steam do something to prevent others from do so?What do you define a "level playing field" as? What is Steam doing that is preventing this from existing? Has Steam done something to hinder the existence of GOG, Itch.io, Kongregate's Kartridge, Discord's Game Store, Amazon's Digital Game Store, RobotCache, Microsoft Store, EA's Origin, Epic Store, etc.,?
Steamworks, a service offered in exchange for platform dependency, has kept many multiplayer games from being released on GOG et al.
Just because there's a publishing deal doesn't mean that Take2 can do whatever they fucking want. That's not how these things work. Not to mention there's leverage - the IP itself, which is enough to give Take2 a reason to treat Obsidian as a partner rather than an indentured servant who has no say in this matter.Do you really think that Obsidian had zero say in it? That it's some nobody Take2 can do with as they please? And I suppose it's a coincidence that it's the only Epic "exclusive" that's going to be released on Windows Store? How thoughtful of Take2.
Yes, I expect Obsidian had a publishing and financing deal made with Take2. I expect that deal to be quite solid, Take2 aren't some second rate publisher which is making its first contracts.
What's funny is that piracy doesn't poof out of nowhere. Someone buys the game, cracks it, and makes it available to others. There are the people who pirate their games, and the people who have enabled piracy. And these people have literally no reason to do so, because they already own the game.
What?
You’re talking about ONE aggregate bought cooy to benefit tens to hundreds of thousands.
tens to hundreds of thousands of zero revenue owners of a game. Wtf are you talking about?