Epic Games Store - the console war comes to PC

[Jenkem]

I'm assuming most people are either waiting for it to go on sale or for a couple patches. If PC people really wanted it right away they probably would have just got it on Rockstar launcher or pirate it.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

Yeah, the steam charts are still accurate, I think. So the all time peak (post-launch) should give you a decent idea of how well the game sold. I don't think there are that many users with 500+ titles on steam who just buy games with no intention of playing them. Though I don't have any solid proof of that, so might be bs.

 

[cvv]

2K were boasting about the good sales on Epic, so we know that it sold a lot on Epic. But after that, the Steam sales seem just mediocre (based on player numbers).

You're losing the thread here. Metro's original point was whether games lose momentum if they don't release on Steam right away. Obviously that's a good question but my point was RDR2 is not a good example because it already sold eleven trillion copies on consoles a year ago.

We already talked about this with Vault Dweller in the Paranoia thread. We'll have to wait for the first proper Epic exclusives to arrive to Steam and this will take a while. Ashen came out yesterday but that is an indie, Exodus will come out in February but that already was on Steam as a pre-purchase. I think we'll have to wait for Control to show up on Steam to be able to assess how the Epic exclusivity affects sales of a major, high-profile game.

 

[Fishy]

With Ashen out on Steam and GOG today it will be interesting to see player numbers and if there are any comments about how it's doing. I wonder what message great success would give developers though... either "Steam is still the king, releasing there is important" or "releasing on Steam later won't impact your sales there." I'm really hoping we get a comment one way or the other from someone.

Yeah but this isn't an ideal case. Game is good but it's very indie, very niche and very cell shaded. There wouldn't be much buzz about something like that, even if it released on Steam straight away.

An interesting tidbit - the game is 6 euro cheaper on Steam (comparing regular prices, not promos).

Can only speak for myself, but they lost me with the delay. I was seriously hyped at the time and anything souls-like or MH-like was on my list, so that was a day one purchase. Now though? Meh. I've watched bits of streams playing it, the hype's gone, and well, I've just moved on.

I'm definitely not saying this will be the case for me and every single epic exclusive, but I can see that becoming a trend for anything I'd have impulse-bought, which at the end of the day is not a bad thing. RDR2 and Rebel Galaxy: Outlaw are in the same boat.

 

[Kutulu]

With Ashen out on Steam and GOG today it will be interesting to see player numbers and if there are any comments about how it's doing. I wonder what message great success would give developers though... either "Steam is still the king, releasing there is important" or "releasing on Steam later won't impact your sales there." I'm really hoping we get a comment one way or the other from someone.

Yeah but this isn't an ideal case. Game is good but it's very indie, very niche and very cell shaded. There wouldn't be much buzz about something like that, even if it released on Steam straight away.

An interesting tidbit - the game is 6 euro cheaper on Steam (comparing regular prices, not promos).

Can only speak for myself, but they lost me with the delay. I was seriously hyped at the time and anything souls-like or MH-like was on my list, so that was a day one purchase. Now though? Meh. I've watched bits of streams playing it, the hype's gone, and well, I've just moved on.

I'm definitely not saying this will be the case for me and every single epic exclusive, but I can see that becoming a trend for anything I'd have impulse-bought, which at the end of the day is not a bad thing. RDR2 and Rebel Galaxy: Outlaw are in the same boat.

Same, im not impatient, i can wait for stuff... but epic did kill the hype so atleast with me its bad for indie games.
See muh post from a year ago:

Ohh one of the games i wanted: Ashen, is now exclusive on Epic.


Fuck em, im not installing anymore bloatware, im not happy with the shit im already using....

 

[LESS T_T]

Sony publishes another game on Epic Store. It's a multiplayer Predator game:



(Also there was an announcement they will bring MLB The Show, practically the only (non-sim) baseball video game franchise, to other consoles by 2021. Wonder if it's also going to be Epic, but it's 1 or 2 years away so eh.)

 

[Reinhardt]

STILL zero games i care about to buy on Epic. To make such store you really need talent.

 

[Alienman]

Female predator with bikini. lulz.

 

[DalekFlay]

I'm assuming most people are either waiting for it to go on sale or for a couple patches. If PC people really wanted it right away they probably would have just got it on Rockstar launcher or pirate it.

It's already had several patches that seem to have fixed all the crashing and whatnot. For those who did wait for Steam that's a nice benefit, playing patched from day one.

Also, it's worth noting RDR2 had a 20% off sale on Epic and Humble Bundle before it came out on Steam (probably by design), which likely stole more of Steam's potential sales. I think you guys, because of your feeling on the matter, keep assuming a lot of people will wait or say fuck off, but we don't really have any evidence that's the case yet. It could very well have sold well on Epic and Rockstar's launcher, or maybe the game itself is doing mediocre on PC in general... it's impossible to say which without the company releasing numbers.

 

[Paul_cz]

STILL zero games i care about to buy on Epic. To make such store you really need talent.

For me it was Control, Outer Wilds and Outer Worlds. Played the latter on gamepass.
But yeah, of so many exclusives that they moneyhatted, to only hit three on my "want to play" list is pretty impressive. Whoever is in charge of selecting these, kudos, keep doing what you are doing :D

 

[Nano]

Psst, guys. I might have a solution for you. Are you hyped for an Epic-exclusive game but don't want to use the Epic store? Give this a shot:

Spoiler

 

[Valky]

I do find it very interesting that Ashen, while a mediocre looking game, released on GOG simultaneously with steam. If drm free releases like this were guaranteed after epic's exclusivity period, I would have no problem waiting an extra 6 months for every new game to come out. Fuck steam and fuck DRM.

 

[cvv]

I do find it very interesting that Ashen, while a mediocre looking game, released on GOG simultaneously with steam. If drm free releases like this were guaranteed after epic's exclusivity period, I would have no problem waiting an extra 6 months for every new game to come out. Fuck steam and fuck DRM.

Ashen has always been DRM-free. You can run it without the shitty Epic client.

 

[Valky]

There goes that hope then. I guess they just took epic money because they had low confidence in their product.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Sony publishes another game on Epic Store. It's a multiplayer Predator game:

One of the best gaming-related pitches I've heard in recent years is Predator+No Man's Sky.

You play No Man's Sky precisely as it is right now... except you have the added requirement that you're a Predator and you're trying to stake (and catch) your claim across as many systems as possible.

The pitch added multiplayer, allowing people to form their own clans, stake their own claims on various systems, and generally have a free-for-all in regards how to deal with opposing players.

Anyone else familiar with this?

 

[Wyatt_Derp]

Female predator with bikini. lulz.

2000-2018 - We like to take video game and movie shit and turn it into weird fetish porn.

2019-2020 - We like to take weird fetish porn and turn it into video game and movie shit.

It's like a double reverse version of internet rule 34.

 

[Uncreation]

Female predator with bikini. lulz.

And some kind of fishnet catsuit!

 

[Modron]

Female predator with bikini. lulz.

And some kind of fishnet catsuit!

The fishnets were standard on other predators as well but yeah what a time to be alive if only meltdown was here to bask in the glory.

 

[Uncreation]

Yeah, i think i remember seeing that before and thinking it was weird. Not sure where though, maybe in the second movie?

 

[LESS T_T]

With Ashen out on Steam and GOG today it will be interesting to see player numbers and if there are any comments about how it's doing. I wonder what message great success would give developers though... either "Steam is still the king, releasing there is important" or "releasing on Steam later won't impact your sales there." I'm really hoping we get a comment one way or the other from someone.

Ashen seems to be struggling. But Hades, the other one from the first wave of Epic exclusives, seems to fare better on Steam. Its current concurrent player number is 3,159 and still going up as of right now, comparable to the developer's previous (successful) games.

Yeah, this is cheaper, gives a better deal ('buy Hades now and get Pyre for free!' vs. 'we also have $10 DLC'), gets better reviews (98% vs. 64%), and the developer has fans. Almost like a game is doing well on its own quality and marketing, regardless of the rage against certain platform and exclusive deals. (It also helps that Supergiant was pretty candid about the deal.)

 

[V_K]

With Ashen out on Steam and GOG today it will be interesting to see player numbers and if there are any comments about how it's doing. I wonder what message great success would give developers though... either "Steam is still the king, releasing there is important" or "releasing on Steam later won't impact your sales there." I'm really hoping we get a comment one way or the other from someone.

Ashen seems to be struggling. But Hades, the other one from the first wave of Epic exclusives, seems to fare better on Steam. Its current concurrent player number is 3,159 and still going up as of right now, comparable to the developer's previous (successful) games.

Yeah, this is cheaper, gives a better deal ('buy Hades now and get Pyre for free!' vs. 'we also have $10 DLC'), gets better reviews (98% vs. 64%), and the developer has fans. Almost like a game is doing well on its own quality and marketing, regardless of the rage against certain platform and exclusive deals. (Also helps Supergiant was pretty candid about the deal.)

IIRC, Hades was also only Epic exclusive during its "early access" period, which surely helped the matters PR-wise, both in terms of media attention and the player goodwill.

 

[Fishy]

Yeah, Hades is slightly different, it still hasn't properly released anywhere. It's just that some people got the opportunity to pay to beta-test earlier than others.

 

[Pika-Cthulhu]

Yeah, i think i remember seeing that before and thinking it was weird. Not sure where though, maybe in the second movie?

It was a net that could turn things into salsa, Danny Glover had the disc blade with the alien metal which cut the threads and so managed to not get chunkified by it. Probably doubles as a screen for the camouflage tech.

 

[Metro]

Sure, it's possible. My whole motivation to get more quotes and numbers is to find out just how many people are willing to wait a year to play a game they're interested in in order to have it on their preferred client. Much to your annoyance I've always expected the number to be small, but I'm willing to be shown it's not. I just want more facts.

It's worse than 'people are willing to wait a year,' it's 'if you go with exclusivity bullshit then people will shun your game completely until it hits a deep discount.' And that's precisely what is happening to Ashen.

v Bitch, I am my own citation. You think sales are poor on Steam because everyone rushed to buy it on Epic? Get real.

 

[Venser]

So 2GD's upcoming arena FPS Diabotical will be Epic exclusive

Diabotical will be free-to-play on the Epic Games Store. Kickstarter backers will be able to request refunds by sending a message to the project creator on Kickstarter since the game has not been delivered on time and since the game will now be exclusively on the Epic Games Store. Epic have funded the studio which will allow the game to be released free-to-play, for the team to keep working on the game for at least 2 years after release, to have some funds for the esports scene and some help in promoting the game, things that we think will lead to a better game than it would have been and to a bigger community which will be better for the game's matchmaking, content and longevity.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Diabotical/comments/ean4yp/december_2019_update/