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Epic Games Store - the console war comes to PC

Pika-Cthulhu

Arcane
Joined
Apr 16, 2007
Messages
7,424
Its a bit dodgy, getting a bribe for exclusives AFTER kickstarter funding was completed with advertising that its coming to Steam smells of bait and switch, it would be different if the fundraising was still in progress and it was more of a partnership/investor role.
 

passerby

Arcane
Joined
Nov 16, 2016
Messages
2,788
I've just checked kickstarter page. They've never committed to any particular store platform there. Now taking Epic deal is somehow wrong just because they've made an obvious Steam release announcemend before Epic deal was on the table :lol:

Also, do you people believe that crowdfunding alone was enough to finish any of the crowdfunded AA games and securing additional funding was not required to actually deliver these games ?
 

Unkillable Cat

LEST WE FORGET
Patron
Joined
May 13, 2009
Messages
27,091
Codex 2014 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy
Did they even promise Shenmue 3 on Steam?

They conducted a backer survey, asking the backers on which platform they would like the game delivered.

The options were:

Digital Steam Download
Digital PS4 Download
Physical Steam Disc Product
Physical PS4 Copy

(The latter two were reserved for higher-tier backers.)

This survey is part of the process of delivering a Kickstarter product to its backers, and is usually done early on. In the case of Shenmue 3 it was done somewhat later, but still before the EGS was launched.

Keep in mind that there are several digitial distributors on the PC to choose from for releasing a title, and they chose Steam above all others.

While it was never outright stated that they promised that Shenmue 3 would be released on Steam, everyone assumed it would be... including the devs and the publisher.
 

PrettyDeadman

Guest
Epic is shit, okay? Shit video game engine (UE4), shit store (Epic Store), shit game (Fortnite), shit CEO (Tim Sweeney), shit business practicies (paying off kickstarter games to tell their backers to fuck off).
 

Solid Snail

Learned
Joined
Oct 31, 2018
Messages
328
Some users are claiming every change you do in the Shenmue 3 survey now doesn't matter, like if you want now a PS4 key to be able to sell it you can't because even if you change it, the deadline was January so you're stuck with a Steam>Epic key. Holy hell if this is true.
 

DalekFlay

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Messages
14,118
Location
New Vegas
I didn't know a Steam version wasn't in the actual Kickstarter pitch. If it was just mentioned in surveys afterward and whatnot then what a fucking overreaction, but what else is new on this subject.
 

cvv

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Mar 30, 2013
Messages
18,075
Location
Kingdom of Bohemia
Codex+ Now Streaming!
Some users are claiming every change you do in the Shenmue 3 survey now doesn't matter, like if you want now a PS4 key to be able to sell it you can't because even if you change it, the deadline was January

People are trying to change keys 6 months after the deadline?
 

Blaine

Cis-Het Oppressor
Patron
Joined
Oct 6, 2012
Messages
1,874,662
Location
Roanoke, VA
Grab the Codex by the pussy
No, it most definitely is a pre-order store.

No u!

But seriously...if it WAS just a pre-order store than every single failure to deliver on a promise would be prosecuted, regardless of circumstance or intention. If you pre-order a vibrating dildo and you get only a plain old boring dildo without the vibrator you can ask for your money back. And if the store refuses saying "sorry brah we really tried but you know how it is, risk and all that" the authorities WILL stomp on them, no ifs, ands or buts.

When it comes to crowdfunding tho it's a much greyer area. Yes the FTC does prosecute failed projects but in all the cases I could find it's only when the creators straight up grab the money and run, i.e. don't show enough good faith to accommodate the donors. There's this whole thing:

In a statement to The Verge, the FTC said, “FTC investigations are nonpublic so we generally don’t comment on whether we are investigating a company or not.
...
The FTC only once publicly investigated a crowdfunding campaign in 2015.....At the time, the FTC said it was okay with the core idea of crowdfunding and the risks involved, but it did want to make sure backers’ money truly went toward a product and that creators didn’t run off with it. “Consumers should be able to trust their money will actually be spent on the project they funded,” said Jessica Rich, who was the then-director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

The boldened part tells you that the FTC sees crowdfunding differently from a simple pre-order. HOW differently tho and where exactly is the line, well that's the grey area. Ultimately backers would have to sue Suzuki and the court would have to produce some sort of precedent. Until then it's all speculation.

I don't give a flying fuck how the FTC chooses to view crowdfunding, either. If they refuse to recognize the way in which projects are presented and how the site is actually used in practice, then the involved staff members are either ignorant of the facts, stupid, or in some way complicit.

Remember Bernie Madoff? Yeah, thousands of besuited financial professionals fully believed that his organization was aboveboard. Also, one of the Big Five accounting firms permanently went out of business after the Enron scandal, because no one's going to hire you to audit them if you've been caught greenlighting a world record-setting Ponzi scheme. It's the Big Four, now.

Point is, you can put your appeal to authority in the trash where it belongs.
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2018
Messages
50,754
Codex Year of the Donut
FTC is the least of your worries when you realize you have to deal with 50 separate state jurisdictions when dealing with the USA
 

Solid Snail

Learned
Joined
Oct 31, 2018
Messages
328
Some users are claiming every change you do in the Shenmue 3 survey now doesn't matter, like if you want now a PS4 key to be able to sell it you can't because even if you change it, the deadline was January

People are trying to change keys 6 months after the deadline?
I didn't even know there was a deadline because I never received mails from Fangamer, even to choose my platform I needed to use the resend link button. But some people are claiming that yes, there was a deadline in January and apparently any changes after that could be ignored.
 

Blaine

Cis-Het Oppressor
Patron
Joined
Oct 6, 2012
Messages
1,874,662
Location
Roanoke, VA
Grab the Codex by the pussy

Perhaps someday you'll develop sufficient dignity and deceny to feel ashamed of such absurd melodramatics.

It shouldn't need to be said, but the use of Steam as a digital distribution platform is 100% voluntary. Distribution itself is generally of least concern; most developers/publishers desire foremost the publicity and exposure that only Steam can provide, and many also want to benefit from Steam's DRM (a fact that's almost always overlooked). I can't imagine what sort of bizarre pretzel your brain must be twisted into if you believe that any entity is ethically entitled to publicity and exposure via some other entity.

"BUT THEY'LL ACHIEVE FEWER SALES IF THEY DON'T DISTRIBUTE THROUGH STEAM!" That's true. Thing is, the additional money they stand to earn by being on Steam (in contrast to self-distribution) far exceeds Steam's 30% cut of the gross. They're still earning much more than they otherwise would, thanks to Steam. There is no logical way to argue that the 30% cut is "too high" in this context. It could just as easily be argued that 30% is too low, because your criteria (and theirs) are entirely arbitrary.
 
Self-Ejected

c2007

Self-Ejected
Joined
May 24, 2017
Messages
1,091
Location
404
What a colossal load of shit.

... are gamers likely [to] benefit from the end goal if it’s ultimately achieved?

No. And quit claiming this is for gamer benefit, the transparent cash grab is transparent.
 
Joined
Dec 24, 2018
Messages
1,783
I feel like the lame attempt at posing as being on some kind of moral crusade is much worse PR than if they just straight up said they wanted to run a business and make money, and saw how profitable it was for Valve. They should really have given up on the charade by this point.
 

Tehdagah

Arcane
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
9,236

Perhaps someday you'll develop sufficient dignity and deceny to feel ashamed of such absurd melodramatics.

It shouldn't need to be said, but the use of Steam as a digital distribution platform is 100% voluntary. Distribution itself is generally of least concern; most developers/publishers desire foremost the publicity and exposure that only Steam can provide, and many also want to benefit from Steam's DRM (a fact that's almost always overlooked). I can't imagine what sort of bizarre pretzel your brain must be twisted into if you believe that any entity is ethically entitled to publicity and exposure via some other entity.

"BUT THEY'LL ACHIEVE FEWER SALES IF THEY DON'T DISTRIBUTE THROUGH STEAM!" That's true. Thing is, the additional money they stand to earn by being on Steam (in contrast to self-distribution) far exceeds Steam's 30% cut of the gross. They're still earning much more than they otherwise would, thanks to Steam. There is no logical way to argue that the 30% cut is "too high" in this context. It could just as easily be argued that 30% is too low, because your criteria (and theirs) are entirely arbitrary.
But why can't Steam reduce their cut to 12%?

2ba3a9e4d61cb5fa736ee93e4ef8e21098869589v2_hq.jpg
 

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