Epic Games Store - the console war comes to PC

[Reinhardt]

Consumerist sheeple

are paying your bills.

 

[Black Angel]

If someone produced something worth the money and the 20h to spent with it, Epic is not much of an issue, if not then Epic is not an issue at all. Consumerist sheeple that care about Steam store experience more than about the content they purchase there are amusing.

If the product's truly worth the money and whatever hours spent with it, and Epic's not much of an issue, why not simultaneously release it on Steam, GOG, itch.io, Discord store, and whatever storefronts existed out there? Why have it release it exclusively on Epic only, if only for 6 months or even 1 whole year?

Let's be honest here. The products getting Epic-exclusive release are most probably dogshit that the devs don't have confidence it in selling on Steam/GOG that they took the bait and receive instant bucks from Epic, because that's truly what they really cared for instead of genuinely making quality products.

 

[fantadomat]

I don't talk about any particular snowflake, but about principles.

If someone produced something worth the money and the 20h to spent with it, Epic is not much of an issue, if not then Epic is not an issue at all. Consumerist sheeple that care about Steam store experience more than about the content they purchase there are amusing.

And that is why you are not a shopkeeper but a producing dude. If consumers are not happy with the shop,then your product is worth jack shit.

 

[passerby]

If it's dogshit you shouldn't buy it period, Epic exclusive, or not.

 

[fantadomat]

If someone produced something worth the money and the 20h to spent with it, Epic is not much of an issue, if not then Epic is not an issue at all. Consumerist sheeple that care about Steam store experience more than about the content they purchase there are amusing.

If the product's truly worth the money and whatever hours spent with it, and Epic's not much of an issue, why not simultaneously release it on Steam, GOG, itch.io, Discord store, and whatever storefronts existed out there? Why have it release it exclusively on Epic only, if only for 6 months or even 1 whole year?

Let's be honest here. The products getting Epic-exclusive release are most probably dogshit that the devs don't have confidence it in selling on Steam/GOG that they took the bait and receive instant bucks from Epic, because that's truly what they really cared for instead of genuinely making quality products.

I mostly agree with you mate,but quality doesn't always translate in to successful sale,there is a ton of good products that don't sale well. As a whole modern society do have the tendency to buy shit products. Also it is a smart bussines move to go epic if you don't intend to make more games with the same firm. They had already capped their sale capacity with kickstarter. No matter what they decide to do they will have low sales,so either you get the money and the stigma around it or you go to steam get no money.

 

[Black Angel]

I mostly agree with you mate,but quality doesn't always translate in to successful sale,there is a ton of good products that don't sale well. As a whole modern society do have the tendency to buy shit products.

You're right, but I think when you managed to build quite good reputation, from producing genuinely good products to applying good consumer practices, then all that a good developer really need is to prioritize what kind of product they want to make, and focus themselves. Obviously one also need to adjust the scope and budget properly, based on the size of the market and potential customers.

Also it is a smart bussines move to go epic if you don't intend to make more games with the same firm. They had already capped their sale capacity with kickstarter. No matter what they decide to do they will have low sales,so either you get the money and the stigma around it or you go to steam get no money.

If all they care about is making money, well, I wouldn't really care about them at the end of the day. If they used kickstarter but didn't deliver enough for whatever reasons, then that's on them and them alone.

 

[JarlFrank]

If you've ever spent a decade to create a bussiness and produced anything sellable in your life, you would be annoyed about store chain turning more profit from your product than you and would feel "entitled" to seek the most efficient way to put your product on the market.

As an average drone, you're unable to empathise with such position.

Game developers are some of the biggest snowflakes in the world. And most of them complain about their cuts when, quite frankly, they make shit games that would get absolutely no traction in sales without outlets like Steam.

Yep. Pretty much all the devs that praise Epic have some kind of issue with the gamer community, not with Steam.

Maybe they made some shitty walking simulator nobody cares about, which is why it was buried in the Steam frontpage quite quickly... a frontpage where even trainwrecks like Torment: Numenera and Bard's Tale 4 lingered for a long while, and hey what do you know, inXile never blamed Steam for their failures but only themselves. Steam allowed companies like Larian and Iron Tower Studios to self-publish their games with no need for a publisher and turn enough profit to stay indie. Divinity: Original Sin 2 even became a bestseller.

The only ones who go "bawwwwwww Steam algorithms and the 30% cut are the only reason my game doesn't sell enough copies for me to make a living" are hipster indies who create banal games that aren't good enough to pull players with their own virtues, or devs who hate receiving bad press because they are assholes (Randy "You can't buy the original Duke games lol" fucking Pitchford) and don't want their asshole-ness exposed by user reviews.

 

[Melcar]

Yeah, fuck those losers.

 

[passerby]

I never said you should support "good fight" of Epic against Steam by buying shitty games there. I say, if at any point an Epic exclusive actually deliver, buying there shouldn't be a problem, if you are not a sheeple.

 

[Black Angel]

I never said you should support "good fight" of Epic against Steam by buying shitty games there. I say, if at any point an Epic exclusive actually deliver, buying there shouldn't be a problem, if you are not a sheeple.

Is it because being Epic exclusive that it delivers, or because the product is genuinely good? If it's the latter, why not have confidence in it and simultaneously release ALSO on Steam, GOG, itch.io, Discord store, and whatever storefronts in existence instead of signing exclusivity deal with Epic and accepting instant bucks?

Funny how you only mention Steam by name, when there are GOG-only fans out there who might as well felt just as hurt as Steam fans.

 

[Cromwell]

if at any point an Epic exclusive actually deliver, buying there shouldn't be a problem, if you are not a sheeple

Getting down on your knees to suck someones cock after they insulted and beat you just because you really need the glorious product is what crackwhores do not sheep.

 

[JarlFrank]

Funny how you only mention Steam by name, when there are GOG-only fans out there who might as well felt just as hurt as Steam fans.

Yeah everyone in this discussion just keeps yelling about STEAM STEAM STEAM STEAM but Steam isn't even the point.

Phoenix Point went from Steam + GoG to Epic only. Two stores for the consumer to choose from... changed to a single store.

Yes, Steam is the biggest platform with the most users and the easiest to get onto. But if the dev cares, he can also publish on other platforms.
Epic exclusive means the game is only available on one store, not two, not three.

 

[Lutte]

Phoenix Point is going to be shit anyway, like all the auteur crowdscamming.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Fuck all digital distribution....

Remember the good old days when installers were animated and came with FMV and backstory?

We'll never get the mid-late 90's back again...

One for Crimson Skies was excellent.

 

[passerby]

Damn, I regret using Phoenix Point as an example, because you are all so butthurt about this stupid, game that the whole point of my arguments flew over your heads.
There is not a single game on Epic I am personally interested in, so I decorated my example with *if* and "hypothetically", that went completely ignored.

If we are at Phoenix Point btw, they've refunded everyone that wanted, hardly a scam by crowdfunding standards, if you ask me.
If you like what the game is developing into and wouldn't refund if it was on Steam/GoG and did it only because you reee about Epic, you have a right to a refund since the deal has changed, but you are a sheeple.
If you used this opportunity to refund, because you don't like what the game is shaping into, it's reasonable.

With Phoenix Point it seems to be more of the latter and it's fine.
With Metro there were people cautiously fapping to it, but after the news, there was only reeeing about Epic, with quiet a few people claimng that the only reason they didn't buy is no Steam.

 

[JarlFrank]

Yes, you're a sheeple for refunding a game when the stores you were promised it would appear on are suddenly kicked out in favor of exclusivity with a store that is way less consumer friendly than either of the two stores that the game was previously intended to be released on

Especially when GoG enters the equation and it's not only about Steam anymore, the consumer friendliness of the store plays a HUGE role in the argument.

GoG = you own the game. You can download it, dump it on your external HDD, and keep it forever. Install and play offline.
Epic = like Steam except worse lol

 

[Dexter]

The future of the games industry is here, everyone! Games turning profit without having sold a single copy to a single player! Who needs customers anyway, when Epic Games will pay for your game? They cry and bitch all the time anyway and they probably smell, this is the future of game development right here! Everyone should focus the development of their games to be things that Tim Sweeney likes since a playerbase has become redundant and isn't needed anymore henceforth, FREE REVENUE and a sustainable business model, Indie development is saved!

Epic Games Store exclusivity helps Phoenix Point achieve 191% return
"Cash advance" from engine provider will be shared with Fig backers as part of game's revenue
James Batchelor
UK Editor
Tuesday 23rd April 2019

Snapshot Games' Phoenix Point isn't due to be released until September, yet the game has nearly doubled its development costs already.

That's according to an email sent to Fig backers, shared on Resetera. The document tells holders of Fig Game Shares that the strategy title has "already accrued a 191% return" -- a 91% return on the investment into the game.

This is no small part due to the exclusivity deal for the Epic Games Store, with Fig reporting this agreement has "brought in significant resources" for Snapshot. And this will ultimately benefit backers as well.

"Since the received cash advance contributes to the game's revenue, it will be share with investors as per our licensing agreement with Snapshot," the email reads. "Additionally, investment returns will continue to accrue with sales of the game."

Remachinate, the forum member who shared the email, attempted to calculate how much Epic paid for exclusivity using various financial documents for Snapshot, claiming it amounts to around $2.25 million. GamesIndustry.biz has contact Epic to find out if these maths are even vaguely accurate.

Epic's exclusivity deals have been somewhat divisive since the store launched around Christmas. Snapshot co-founder Julian Gollop already defended the decision to temporarily make the new platform the only sales channel for Phoenix Point after complaints from backers.

Other titles that have been at the centre of the debate have been Metro Exodus and Borderlands 3.

At GDC, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney told GamesIndustry.biz that, "It's important for game developers to hold strong and sometimes be willing to go through criticism as we do things that are necessary for the industry."

A week later during the GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit at PAX East, the firm's David Stelzer assured that exclusives are the best way to help the new store stand out and are, "not [designed] to necessarily exclude anybody."

Earlier this month, Sweeney said Epic will continue signing exclusivity deals with developers and publishers regardless of whether or not they have previous agreements with Steam.

Principles of New Game Design #1: "Ask Ye Not What the Audience Wants, Ask Ye What the Sweeney Desires."

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Games turning profit without having a single player!

Akshually Backer Build 4 of Phoenix Point uses Epic launcher, so it might count as Early Access title or similar.

 

[Cromwell]

Yeah everyone in this discussion just keeps yelling about STEAM STEAM STEAM STEAM but Steam isn't even the point.

not only that people also just post "just use epic". There is not one counterargument in the whole thread why I should use anything when its worse than what I already got (regardless of the fact if I even use the features/sales/whatever) just "use or your a dumdum its the same"

 

[Metro]

Epic Store = safe space.

 

[passerby]

Yes, you're a sheeple for refunding a game when the stores you were promised it would appear on are suddenly kicked out in favor of exclusivity with a store that is way less consumer friendly than either of the two stores that the game was previously intended to be released on

Especially when GoG enters the equation and it's not only about Steam anymore, the consumer friendliness of the store plays a HUGE role in the argument.

GoG = you own the game. You can download it, dump it on your external HDD, and keep it forever. Install and play offline.
Epic = like Steam except worse lol

Not that I care about the game, but it will be DRM free, Epic launcher will be required to download updates, but you can backup install folder of downloaded/updated game which you can run from exe bypassing the launcher.
All backers will also receive a Steam/GOG key after a year in addition to Epic key. And they gave a refund to everyone that asked for it.
But they took a deal that already secured funding of their next game! What a scammers, how dare they making money So, to summarise the last two pages:

Gabe and CDP don't care about the money, but saved PC gaming and this prick Gollop should be grateful forever for the opportunity of sharing 30% of sales revenue with these gaming saints, instead this disloyal asshole made a deal with devilish chinks.
Fucking Sweeney and Gollop are disgusting douche bags that care only about the money and should go fuck themselves. The game being shit and in need of a safe space, is clearly the only reason to not lick Gabe's asshole and pass on glorious 3% market share of cool rebels at GOG.

 

[Reinhardt]

But they took a deal that already secured funding of their next game! What a scammers, how dare they making money

Taking money under specific obligations and then refusing to fulfill your part of the deal is a scam. No "witty" remarks will change it.

 

[Jigawatt]

Especially when GoG enters the equation and it's not only about Steam anymore, the consumer friendliness of the store plays a HUGE role in the argument.

GoG = you own the game. You can download it, dump it on your external HDD, and keep it forever. Install and play offline.
Epic = like Steam except worse lol

There are probably more than these, but you can already get Super Meat Boy, Subnautica, The Witness, and Slime Rancher from Epic Store, copy-paste to an external HDD then play them on a different machine without EGS installed, DRM free. I agree Phoenix Point backing out of a deal with paying customers is pretty scummy but they seem committed to following the same route.

 

[Reinhardt]

If you can officially take money but refuse to deliver product then it's fine to take product but refuse to deliver money.

 

[Drakron]

But they took a deal that already secured funding of their next game!

They didnt, Phoenix Point is hardly completed and will not see a release this year and they will still have another year of having to support Phoenix Point, they will not start working on their next game until 2022, besides Epic is just advancing payments meaning they will take a cut from sales until Epic gets their advanced payment back, Epic is not funding their next game because every cent they paid in advance will be taken out from sales.