Epic Games Store - the console war comes to PC

[GrainWetski]

What I don't get is why they're doing it this way. Feels like Epic are just trying to shit up PC gaming or something. I mean, it would've been so easy to become loved instead of hated. They should be using all these millions they're throwing around on getting rights right make ports of games.

Imagine if they released the store with a Persona 5 and then announced a Bloodborne 6 months later. They're already clearly spending 10s of millions on exclusives and I doubt Sony's still making much on Bloodborne not to mention they wouldn't even have to port the game themselves and still get paid. People would be shitting on Steam if that happened and the Epic store wasn't stuck in 2005.

Oh well, they chose their hill and hopefully they die on it. Along with everyone defending them.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Every time us gamers lament the newest DRM measures put into games, we have to remember that we are to blame for them. The devs/publishers aren't innocent in this, but we hold the lion's share of the guilt.

If that were true, GOG would have been an utter failure rather than the second biggest store. DRM exists because publishers think that piracy is lost sales which it isn't.

I'd say that creating some goodwill with the gaming community is a lot more important (and can accomplish a lot more in terms of sales) than any attempts to force some DRM on paying customers or drive them to a new store with forced exclusivity.

 

[Mustawd]

No, you're talking about what you will actually do. And what you will do is act like an entitled little cunt.

I mean...yes? Why are you singling me out in your vendetta against thd concept of a black market?

It’s like you don’t realize people like me exist everywhere and will pirate regardless of what people think.

But to provide some perspective, I haven’t pirated a game since 2014 because Steam and GoG makes it too damn convenient.

So again, nice opinion and all, but my point in using myself as an example was to make the argument that a black market exists. And that these people who have temporarily left said black market, like myself, will willingly re-enter it if stupid shit like exclusives continue to happen. Which will result in lost or delayed sales for the developer and a waste of money by Epic.

For example, EA will never get my money for DA: I unless they choose to abandon Origin. Ditto for Ubisoft.

I do find your attitude amusing Ucat. However, maybe you should have tried to convince me back when I was a teen downloading music via Napster

Every time us gamers lament the newest DRM measures put into games,

Im fine with DRM.

 

[Dexter]

Galyonkin running his mouth again: https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/b0jezz/director_of_publishing_strategy_for_epic_games/

Also, a milestone for the Epic Games Store:

 

[Steamboat Willie]

Uh oh here comes the feature creep...

 

[Eyestabber]

I see a flaw in Epic's long term strategy. On the surface it looks simple: secure a bunch of big hitters as exclusives and bleed Steam out of those sales. But they are going about it by straight up bribing devs, which essentially shifts the "risk factor" of the game flopping from the developer's hands straight into Epic's hands. Their latest acquisition of Phoenix Point is particularly interesting, since that game has been going full long before they got involved. Meaning I think it's unlikely to sell very well and will end up being a net loss for Epic.

I forsee EGS becoming some sort of "welfare mama" for mediocre devs, which would essentially mean they are throwing good money (fortinghte's) after bad money. Add to that the fact that the Battle Royal fad will die out eventually and they are left with...what? A bunch of wellfare nigger developers licking their boots and no money to show for it?

And yes, I know they also have League of Legends, but come on.

 

[LESS T_T]

Looks like a new game from Hyper Light Drifter dev is Epic Store exclusive:

 

[Duraframe300]

I see a flaw in Epic's long term strategy. On the surface it looks simple: secure a bunch of big hitters as exclusives and bleed Steam out of those sales. But they are going about it by straight up bribing devs, which essentially shifts the "risk factor" of the game flopping from the developer's hands straight into Epic's hands. Their latest acquisition of Phoenix Point is particularly interesting, since that game has been going full long before they got involved. Meaning I think it's unlikely to sell very well and will end up being a net loss for Epic.

I forsee EGS becoming some sort of "welfare mama" for mediocre devs, which would essentially mean they are throwing good money (fortinghte's) after bad money. Add to that the fact that the Battle Royal fad will die out eventually and they are left with...what? A bunch of wellfare nigger developers licking their boots and no money to show for it?

And yes, I know they also have League of Legends, but come on.

Yeah, I don't get it either. A game like Phoenix Point LIVES on its niche and reputation/word of mouth. That bridge has now been completly burnt down, meaning the game has to appeal/be marketed to your average gamer. In which case it will fail spectaculary.

 

[Alienman]

Maybe it will be turned into the first ever turn-based battle royale.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

What I saw about what Epic store offers they don't seem to have other tactical games on their platform.
Idea is probably to get some niche stuff exclusively on their store to draw in as much new customers as possible.

 

[Alienman]

Something that would actually get me to install EPIC launcher would be if Sweeney turned out to be a massive Jagged Alliance fan and put aside 1 billion dollar to develop the best turn-based tactical game ever.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Something that would actually get me to install EPIC launcher would be if Sweeney turned out to be a massive Jagged Alliance fan and put aside 1 billion dollar to develop the best turn-based tactical game ever.

Would the curse be strong enough to bankrupt Epic?

 

[fantadomat]

Something that would actually get me to install EPIC launcher would be if Sweeney turned out to be a massive Jagged Alliance fan and put aside 1 billion dollar to develop the best turn-based tactical game ever.

Would the curse be strong enough to bankrupt Epic?

They could go for the mobile market with. We all know how well this turned out for activision-blizzard.

 

[hajro]

Man all these games i will pirate because im not supporting Epic

 

[Eyestabber]

Anyone remember that old meme "whenever you pirate stuff you're downloading COMMUNISM"? Someone should update that and replace "piracy" with "Epic Games/Tencent".

 

[Infinitron]

“It’s nearly perfect for consumers already… There is no hope of displacing a dominant storefront solely by adding marginally more store features or a marginally better install experience. These battles will be won on the basis of game supply, consumer prices, and developer revenue sharing,” Sweeney reckons.

He's not wrong, if Epic want a piece of the digital pie then they have to do this.

Yes, I think this is correct, with the caveat that they could still fail. And the reason they could fail is something I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned - the infamous Steam backlog. For a consumer, a game that becomes Epic-exclusive might be a reason to try out the Epic store, but it could just as easily be an excuse to...play something else on Steam instead.

But of course, as people have said before, Epic's real long-term strategy is probably less about getting people to switch from Steam to Epic and more about trying to get younger gamers to start out with Epic instead of with Steam. They're betting on a generational shift in habits, similar to the historic shifts from MySpace to Facebook or Digg to Reddit.

 

[Vault Dweller]

“It’s nearly perfect for consumers already… There is no hope of displacing a dominant storefront solely by adding marginally more store features or a marginally better install experience. These battles will be won on the basis of game supply, consumer prices, and developer revenue sharing,” Sweeney reckons.

He's not wrong, if Epic want a piece of the digital pie then they have to do this.

Yes, I think this is correct...

I think it's a misguided attempt to apply corporate tactics to the gaming market. It's ass-fucking-backwards because the only way to do well in this game is to put the players first because it is the players who drive this thing. Epic is doing the very fucking opposite at the moment: appeal to publishers and developers not the players, fuck toxic forums and players' reviews, force players to sign up with last-minute exclusive deals.

Sure, Steam dominates the market at the moment and seemingly there's absolutely no way for a newcomer to gain a foothold. After all, that's why that new social network Facebook failed to lure people away from our beloved MySpace or why Google failed to lure people away from Yahoo and CompuServe, right?

 

[Alienman]

Borderlands 3 going Epic too?

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/b0ih7j/looks_like_borderlands_3_is_gonna_be_an_epic/

 

[Don Peste]

Just curious, is there an Epic-chan already, like they did with GOG, or not yet?

 

[vortex]

If it's going to be better than B2 and not live service, Epic is not going to be a problem.

 

[cosmicray]

Can someone explain what exactly Epic is doing to lure publishers to use their store exclusively?

 

[Infinitron]

After all, that's why that new social network Facebook failed to lure people away from our beloved MySpace or why Google failed to lure people away from Yahoo and CompuServe, right?

Sure, but they did this primarily by capturing entirely new demographics that ended up numerically swamping the legacy platform. I don't know if this is possible in the PC gaming space - it could be the market is basically maxed out.

But if it is possible, the question becomes "How do I trigger the generational shift?". Epic's answer: Start out with your base of Fortnite kiddies, grow the platform with exclusives and hope they stick around.

 

[Dexter]

Can someone explain what exactly Epic is doing to lure publishers to use their store exclusively?

Paying them off directly, and apparently insuring them for a guaranteed certain amount of Sales monetarily. Also since Borderlands 3 is an Unreal-Engine game, waiving all licensing fees incurred and offering a smaller overhead (12% instead of 30/25/20% as Steam).

 

[Metro]

Wouldn't it be up to 2K to decide if BL3 is Epic exclusive? I don't see that happening but I guess you never know.

 

[unfairlight]

Pretty certain it's Gearbox's IP and if this is self funded they can make that decision themselves.