Epic Games Store - the console war comes to PC

[Steamboat Willie]

Fucking Rockstar launcher. Fuck this shit. If companies don't want to give another store a cut, fine, that's cool. But sell the games directly on their fucking website. Let me pay there and download an installer in return. Don't require yet another fucking application on top of it.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

publishers, 2019: we should all use our own client to get 100% of the profit! Customers will be okay with having 30 active botnets running at the same time!
publishers, 2020: piracy is ruining PC gaming!

 

[Steamboat Willie]

Everything is fucking backwards. Desktop Applications that actually make sense as desktop applications (Office, Sketchup, Photoshop, etc.) are migrating to being web apps, and tasks that websites are appropriate for (buying and downloading games) are instead requiring a separate desktop application.

 

[V_K]

Fucking Rockstar launcher. Fuck this shit. If companies don't want to give another store a cut, fine, that's cool. But sell the games directly on their fucking website. Let me pay there and download an installer in return. Don't require yet another fucking application on top of it.

But those installers would still have an always-online DRM in them, so it's not like there's much difference.

 

[DalekFlay]

Fucking Rockstar launcher. Fuck this shit. If companies don't want to give another store a cut, fine, that's cool. But sell the games directly on their fucking website. Let me pay there and download an installer in return. Don't require yet another fucking application on top of it.

Most people want the features a client provides.

 

[Avonaeon]

Most people want the features a client provides.

In one place, not spread across 8 or more launchers.

 

[Reinhardt]

Most people want the features a client provides.

Like what? What features epic store client provides?

 

[DalekFlay]

In one place, not spread across 8 or more launchers.

I'm sure most want that too, just like they want to only subscribe to Netflix and get everything. Companies aren't gonna play ball with that shit, for better or worse. So the point is (since people want client features) if they're going to do their own thing it's going to be a client, not some webpage where you download installers, like he suggested.

 

[LESS T_T]

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...to-get-you-to-install-its-new-games-launcher/

Since this article has gone live, we've discovered another reason to install RGL, though it's arguably not a welcome one. Rockstar has now mandated the launcher's installation in order to boot certain games available on Steam. I uninstalled RGL from my testing rig, then attempted to boot my existing Steam installation of Grand Theft Auto V. At that time, Steam automatically loaded the RGL installation process. Thus, there is currently no way to play GTA V without having Rockstar's new launcher active. Rockstar isn't the first to do this, by the way; publishers like Ubisoft mandate similar launcher requirements in their Steam games.

Review bombings incoming...: https://store.steampowered.com/app/271590/Grand_Theft_Auto_V/#app_reviews_hash

 

[Echo Mirage]

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...to-get-you-to-install-its-new-games-launcher/

Since this article has gone live, we've discovered another reason to install RGL, though it's arguably not a welcome one. Rockstar has now mandated the launcher's installation in order to boot certain games available on Steam. I uninstalled RGL from my testing rig, then attempted to boot my existing Steam installation of Grand Theft Auto V. At that time, Steam automatically loaded the RGL installation process. Thus, there is currently no way to play GTA V without having Rockstar's new launcher active. Rockstar isn't the first to do this, by the way; publishers like Ubisoft mandate similar launcher requirements in their Steam games.

Review bombings incoming...: https://store.steampowered.com/app/271590/Grand_Theft_Auto_V/#app_reviews_hash

That has be the third or fourth time that GTA 5 has been review bombed at this point

 

[Tehdagah]

They've improved tremendously yet it's still shit. 2-10h for what will be an automated response is fucking garbage, the message right after the first automated message is always automated as well, and only after that if you hope and pray enough you get a human response after maybe 3 days.

3 days? Sometimes it takes way more time. Valve's support service is abysmal.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...to-get-you-to-install-its-new-games-launcher/

Since this article has gone live, we've discovered another reason to install RGL, though it's arguably not a welcome one. Rockstar has now mandated the launcher's installation in order to boot certain games available on Steam. I uninstalled RGL from my testing rig, then attempted to boot my existing Steam installation of Grand Theft Auto V. At that time, Steam automatically loaded the RGL installation process. Thus, there is currently no way to play GTA V without having Rockstar's new launcher active. Rockstar isn't the first to do this, by the way; publishers like Ubisoft mandate similar launcher requirements in their Steam games.

Review bombings incoming...: https://store.steampowered.com/app/271590/Grand_Theft_Auto_V/#app_reviews_hash

The only client I enjoy being forced down my throat is Steam.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

Now Rockstar has an actual launcher thing: https://www.pcgamesn.com/rockstar-games-launcher?amp

The Rockstar Games Launcher is here, and it comes with GTA: San Andreas for free

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past year of covering PC games, it’s that players really love downloading additional launchers to play their games. Rockstar is the latest to capitalise on this beloved trend, and you can now download the Rockstar Games Launcher to see the results for yourself – and snag a free copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas while you’re at it.

The Rockstar Games Launcher works pretty much as you’d expect, once it’s installed from the official site. You can buy games through the attached store – currently including GTA5, GTA3 Vice City, Max Payne 3, Bully, and L.A. Noire – and run them through the simple interface with the benefit of automatic updates and cloud saves. There’s also an option to scan your PC for existing installs of Rockstar titles so that you can add them to your library here.

To sweeten the deal, Rockstar is offering a free copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to redeem through the launcher for “a limited time.” It’ll stick with your library in perpetuity, so you can say “aw shit, here we go again” whenever the mood strikes.

At this point, no publisher wants to give another platform a cut when it can just sell its own games directly – at least on PC, where there aren’t any barriers to making that happen.

In other words, get used to the Rockstar Games Launcher if you’re waiting for the Red Dead Redemption 2 PC release date – chances are good that this’ll be the exclusive home of future releases from the company.

Greetings from the Humungus!

 

[Steamboat Willie]

Thus, there is currently no way to play GTA V without having Rockstar's new launcher active.

They sure about that?

 

[Vorark]

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past year of covering PC games, it’s that players really love downloading additional launchers to play their games.

That moment you're not sure if someone is being ironic or not.

 

[DalekFlay]

The Rockstar launcher has you do a fucking captcha with the "click the three images with cars in them" shit to login. WTF.

 

[racofer]

 

[Haba]

I wonder if I can get my GTAV refunded because of this.

 

[Tehdagah]

https://www.dsogaming.com/news/kine...ng-on-other-storefronts-to-have-a-steam-page/

Kine dev: “Valve wants developers that are releasing on other storefronts to have a Steam page”

 

[Rinslin Merwind]

I think I suspect reason, why Rockstar doing it. It's because they want to sell data gathered from their client to people interested in such information.

 

[passerby]

“Valve wants developers that are releasing on other storefronts to have a Steam page. They want their customers to be able to wishlist the game on Steam as soon as they see a trailer elsewhere.

I told you, it's still more of a promotion for Steam, then for the games. In fact publishers by agreeing and announcing the fact exclusivity is timed in advance got played by Valve imo.
It's less of these 12% cut D1P full price + DLCs later sales for them and more 50% off GOTY sales at 30% cut.

 

[J_C]

https://www.dsogaming.com/news/kine...ng-on-other-storefronts-to-have-a-steam-page/

Kine dev: “Valve wants developers that are releasing on other storefronts to have a Steam page”

Simple. Valve is a business, which is not run by emotions. They want to make money, and the longer there is a storepage on Steam, the more wishlists and visibility that game gets. So after the Steam release, the more people will buy it, and making more money to Valve. And of course the developer.

 

[passerby]

So after the Steam release, the more people will buy it, and making more money to Valve. And of course the developer.

This is how Valve sells it, but a gamer wishlistig a game mentally moves it into skip and wait for a sale notification email category.
It'll sure help to sell more on Steam, but I have doubts it'll help to make more money for the develeper than D1P on Epic would.
I suspect it also encourages many people to do neither, which they don't talk about. Overall it probably doesn't affect sales that much either way.

 

[J_C]

So after the Steam release, the more people will buy it, and making more money to Valve. And of course the developer.

This is how Valve sells it, but a gamer wishlistig a game mentally moves it into skip and wait for a sale notification email category.
It'll sure help to sell more on Steam, but I have doubts it'll help to make more money for the develeper than D1P on Epic would.
I suspect it also encourages many people to do neither, which they don't talk about. Overall it probably doesn't affect sales that much either way.

Oh you're right. I'm just talking about Valve's perspective, the reason why they are encouraging having a Steam page.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

When it requires as much or more effort to acquire a game as pirating it then people will simply pirate it.
A game that's already released but not out on steam is just going to get pirated, not wishlisted.

 

[JarlFrank]

When it requires as much or more effort to acquire a game as pirating it then people will simply pirate it.
A game that's already released but not out on steam is just going to get pirated, not wishlisted.

Yeah. I used to pirate exclusively. Then I started buying from Steam, GoG, Humble, etc. Directly from developer websites when that's the only way to get it and the download is a neat DRM-free installer. itch.io for some obscure games only available there, it also has direct downloads of installers.

But if publishers want to push additional launchers on me that aren't Steam or GoG Galaxy, I'm gonna go back to pirating because that's more convenient than managing a dozen accounts and remembering the passwords for all of them.