Epic Games Store - the console war comes to PC

[Silentstorm]

Considering the image from the tweets, i gather that Satisfactory sales either aren't that great or not what they expected, i honestly thought it would have been better, particularly after the sale.

What if they only sell ~1% of steam like they did with new Metro?

I mean, i don't think we ever got actual numbers but they said the sales were good, then again, if it was a huge sucess, Epic would have plastered the numbers everywhere, i guess it was a bit too indie still at the end of the day, the real test will continue to be Borderlands 3 so far.

 

[whydoibother]

"I promise I deleted it, bro :D"

Spoiler

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/brgq8p/reddit_user_requested_all_the_personal_info_epic/

 

[PrettyDeadman]

What if they only sell ~1% of steam like they did with new Metro?

I mean, i don't think we ever got actual numbers but they said the sales were good, then again, if it was a huge sucess, Epic would have plastered the numbers everywhere, i guess it was a bit too indie still at the end of the day, the real test will continue to be Borderlands 3 so far.

Epic reported that Metro:Exodus sold roughly 2.5 times Metrol Last Light did on steam (at the same period).
According to steamspy, Metro Last Light only sold ~20 000 copies on steam (in it's lifetime, so Epic's baseline should be probably lower). 2.5 times of that is 50 000. Last game in Metro franchise which was sold on steam sold ~ 5 000 000 copies. 50 000 is only 1% of 5 000 000.

 

[Cromwell]

The human error in this case is that the data was sent to another player instead of the chinese government.

 

[V_K]

The human error in this case is that the data was sent to another player instead of the chinese government.

I'm sure they quickly fixed it if so.

 

[passerby]

Security error exposing 34k users is a non issue compared to a human error involving one user.

https://www.thelines.com/steam-info-leaked/

"In cases where an item was being purchased at the time of the mishap, users had access to the real name, full phone number, and full billing address of those purchasing."

 

[Silentstorm]

Yep, Steam did have a much bigger mistake regarding this, and Epic did go ahead and warn the user involved, and that's all i have to say, it sucks, but it was one really big mistake for the guy who has to trust that someone actually did delete his information.

 

[whydoibother]

Security error exposing 34k users is a non issue compared to a human error involving one user.
https://www.thelines.com/steam-info-leaked/
"In cases where an item was being purchased at the time of the mishap, users had access to the real name, full phone number, and full billing address of those purchasing."

Valve being shit doesn't make Epic not shit, m8lad.
Also, I remember that issue around a Christmas, but I never got how exactly it worked. What were you supposed to do to see other people's data, buy the same thing as them at the same time or what?

 

[V_K]

Epic did go ahead and warn the user involved

As people on reddit have noted, Epic had a legal obligation to do so under GDPR or face a fine of up to 4% of their turnover.
It's not like it's worse than that Steam leak, it's just extremely ironic that a user's request made under the data protection law results exactly in Epic failing to protect his data. And it's been a pattern with Epic fuck-ups ever since the store's launch - they're not just fuck-ups, but the kind of fuck-ups that lend themselves extremely well to schadenfreude.

 

[passerby]

What if they only sell ~1% of steam like they did with new Metro?

Epic reported that Metro:Exodus sold roughly 2.5 times Metrol Last Light did on steam (at the same period).
According to steamspy, Metro Last Light only sold ~20 000 copies on steam (in it's lifetime, so Epic's baseline should be probably lower). 2.5 times of that is 50 000. Last game in Metro franchise which was sold on steam sold ~ 5 000 000 copies. 50 000 is only 1% of 5 000 000.

1) Current Steam Spy estimates run on gauging social media activity around games and concurrent players vs time from release to estimate number of owners, so it's obviously useless for original when there is a redux version.
Do you actually believe it sold only 20k on Steam in over a year that passed till redux release ?
2) Overwhelming majority of Metro Redux Steam sales were at 5$ price point, they have plenty of time to get there.
3) Exodus sold 200k preorders on Steam that obviously couldn't contribute to initial sales on Epic.
4) Exodus sold only 50% more than Last Light on consoles in initial weeks.

Given all the points above selling 2.5x more in initial weeks, should be actually positively surprising for a publisher.

 

[PrettyDeadman]

What if they only sell ~1% of steam like they did with new Metro?

Epic reported that Metro:Exodus sold roughly 2.5 times Metrol Last Light did on steam (at the same period).
According to steamspy, Metro Last Light only sold ~20 000 copies on steam (in it's lifetime, so Epic's baseline should be probably lower). 2.5 times of that is 50 000. Last game in Metro franchise which was sold on steam sold ~ 5 000 000 copies. 50 000 is only 1% of 5 000 000.

1) Current Steam Spy estimates run on gauging social media activity around games and concurrent players vs time from release to estimate number of owners, so it's obviously useless for original when there is redux version.
Do you actually believe it sold only 20k on Steam in over a year that passed till redux release ?

Metro Last light was released way before steam implemented changed which forced steamspy to change how it estimates owners. So 20.000 copies sold is a very realistic number.

 

[passerby]

Owners: 0 .. 20,000

Looks totally realistic for a high production values cinematic shooter with good reviews and like precise data achieved from gauging representative sample of users account, not like a result from the current algorithm.

 

[PrettyDeadman]

Owners: 0 .. 20,000

Looks totally realistic for a high production values cinematic shooter with good reviews and like precise data achieved from gauging representative sample of users account, not like a result from the current algorithm.

Realistic number for a relative commercial failure which original Metro series was unlike Redux versions...

 

[Metro]

passerby, if your only defense of Epic is "bu... but... Steam" then you have no defense of Epic.

 

[passerby]

I do not defend anything, just counter mindless circlejerking and double standards with facts and reason.

 

[Black Angel]

I do not defend anything, just counter mindless circlejerking and double standards with facts and reason.

What facts and reason? Metro Exodus selling 2.5 times more than LL doesn't tell us enough, because what is truly needed are real numbers. It might counts as fact to you, but it's a weak ass fact if you really think about it.

And reason? What fucking reason you give? That two wrongs make a right? That Epic mishandles 1 person's data should be okay because Steam exposed 34k userdata? If you would actually use proper reasoning, I'm sure you wouldn't stupidly conclude that for everyone who called out Epic's bullshit of mishandling 1 person's data means Steam's past mistake is ((((((non-issue)))))). But since you're nothing but Epic Cum Dumpster™, everyone who called out Epic are Steam Fanboys™, with literally no GOG Fanboys there at all. Nuh uh, zero.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

If the numbers were good, they would be flaunting them everywhere, this is obvious.

Of course it's also very probable that the free money exclusivity deals contain a clause preventing devs/publishers from revealing the number of unites shipped via epic store (meaning: that their games sold like shit).

Still, I reckon it's pretty much close to death sentence to smaller devs (say, the Operencia guys), unless they will be able to find more sugar daddies in form of exclusivity or crowdfunding for future projects.

 

[passerby]

Yeah, you need a lot of media exposure and have in general a normie friendly product. That said blobbers sell like shit in general, being on Steam didn't help Vaporum for example.
Edit: On the other hand, given how few games are on Epic currently and how much media attention Epic gets, discovery rate can be actually pretty good.

It'll be interesting to see how Epic subsidized sale will work for them.
Operencia for 5$, where dev gets 15$ and after taxes is left with over 40% more of this revenue than on Steam/GoG/whatever, should be pretty sweet deal for people more interested in supporting these kind of games, than in supporting an app they use to download said games.

 

[J_C]

Owners: 0 .. 20,000

Looks totally realistic for a high production values cinematic shooter with good reviews and like precise data achieved from gauging representative sample of users account, not like a result from the current algorithm.

Realistic number for a relative commercial failure which original Metro series was unlike Redux versions...

You are talking out of your wolfie ass.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...-week-sales-surpass-2033-lifetime-sales-in-us

 

[Belegarsson]

 

[passerby]

A lot of putting words and conclusions into someone elses mouth in these tweets, I just see a smart dude who avoids a PR shitstorm, when he sees it on the horizon.

The sales may, or may not be shit, they probably are not great, but like I broke it down on the previous page, as long they sell 60% of what they would sell on Steam it'll be worth it.

 

[DalekFlay]

Whatever you think of Epic you guys have to give up this dream that exclusives don't work and the games will sell bad. I doubt Metro's numbers are that different than they would have been otherwise, and Borderlands 3 is going to sell like gangbusters for Epic. People will bitch and complain, but exclusives have been used in gaming for 30 years for a reason.

 

[TheChickenKing]

I might be reading too much into it, but I wouldn't be surprised if Epic lost a lot of trust with the sale very specifically, both from consumers and companies. After a few hours of some surprisingly good prices, the sale reversed course super hard into the territory of basically nothing being on sale at all. If you heard about the sale and wanted to check it out, you'd be left staring at a store page with a banner that still claims a sale is happening, but with hardly anything actually on sale. At the same time, the companies themselves won't be happy about Epic unilaterally deciding to lower the cost of their games for them, and potentially devaluing some fairly new releases to consumers. That's a serious party foul and - combining that with sales that might not be great - you've got a recipe for the Epic store being DOA.

Borderlands 3 is their potential salvation, but Gearbox has been very open about how it's a timed exclusive. A lot of people dislike the Epic store enough that hatred might overcome a fear of missing out on a new release, especially if a given consumer has few-to-no friends picking it up on the Epic store. Why buy a coop game to play by yourself?

Edit: Removed a typo.

 

[DalekFlay]

I might be reading too much into it, but I wouldn't be surprised if Epic lost a lot of trust with the sale very specifically, both from consumers and companies. After a few hours of some surprisingly good prices, the sale reversed course super hard into the territory of basically nothing being on sale at all. If you heard about the sale and wanted to check it out, you'd be left staring at a store page with a banner that still claims a sale is happening, but with hardly anything actually on sale. At the same time, the companies themselves won't be happy about Epic unilaterally deciding to lower the cost of their games for them, and potentially devaluing some fairly new releases to consumers. That's a serious party foul and - combining that with sales that might not be great - you've got a recipe for the Epic store being DOA.

LOL at "DOA." Also they still take the $10 off at checkout for pretty much everything except the few titles pulled from the store, so there's still some very good deals there. If you were gonna buy Outward right now you can do it for $31.99 on Steam or $21.99 on Epic because of the $10 off, and I'm sure there's many other examples of that. Will a lot of people like the ones in this thread pay more to avoid Epic? Probably, yeah. However will a lot of others say "hey that's cheap, screw it!" Yes, they will. And I will repeat that this is what you guys claimed you wanted Epic to do, use their war chest to make games cheaper for the consumer, so this is them taking the "consumer approved" tactic or whatever.

Point is, exclusives work because they wear people down and get them to eventually buy a Playstation/Xbox/Nintendo or now install a new client. Sales work to get people to buy something. These are tactics as old as trading for grain, and you guys make me laugh when you act like everyone is this principled Steam loyalist who will go without and "stay strong." Nope, consumer behavior is very predictable, and they don't do that shit. There's a handful of wackos on the GOG forum who supposedly have never played anything with DRM on it, but how big a difference are they making in the industry? Like a grain of sand in an ocean, it's pointless.

 

[Solid Snail]

Rune 2 Epic Exclusive but they beta-tested the game on Steam...