Epic Games General Thread - Its time to talk about what the AAA gaming industry does not understand about the PC console.

[Secret Asshole]

To be fair, Epic is finding great success because most PC users actually don't give a shit.

Epic's only success is pissing off the entire PC gaming sphere and making revolutionary deals in exclusives. These deals include paying for entire kickstarter budgets, paying for an estimated percentage of sales lost on Steam by games, holding up entire development studios because their games aren't going to be selling for awhile, to six and seven figure deals for large games and franchises, and paying for free games for every user that has an account. Those games are free for you, but Epic is paying for them.

Its lost at least 100 million plus and is not making nearly any of that back. Nobody is disclosing any relevant Epic sales data except in very roundabout ways. Ubisoft said it sold more preorders on its store than the division one. Not good for Epic since it signals people going around the Epic storefront.

Epic only appears to be successful because we're talking about it. It is not. I would imagine it isn't even in the second spot yet compared to Steam.

It is still bleeding massive amounts of money. I'd wager it makes more on selling your data to China than selling games.

 

[Takayuki Yagami]

Randy’s running his faggot mouth again.

Randy Pitchford Again SLAMS Steam, Explains Support For Borderlands 3 Epic Store Exclusivity

★ Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford believes Steam will fall, explains his support of the Borderlands 3 Epic Games Store exclusivity deal! ★ ★Enjoyed it? Give it a...

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Why would you ever claim another party is acting out of greed when you’re personally on the hook for corporate malefeasence as is. Did that class action suit for Colonial Marines ever go to discovery? I’d love to find out if they were dumb enough to talk about how they diverted money from that to Borderlands 2 in traceable channels, and how big of a blacklist Sega put them on after that.

 

[Fuzhou]

So, I bit the bullet and bought an Epic Store game, Dangerous Driving, and while the game is fun, I don't know why but it just feels like it's missing a lot. It's not really just the game, but the store has no overlay to look shit up, and a friends menu, but no way to message people in game.

 

[Marissa Moira]

So, I bit the bullet and bought an Epic Store game, Dangerous Driving, and while the game is fun, I don't know why but it just feels like it's missing a lot. It's not really just the game, but the store has no overlay to look shit up, and a friends menu, but no way to message people in game.

Finally a client with the anti-social features I've been wishing for.

 

[Fuzhou]

Finally a client with the anti-social features I've been wishing for.

I'd love a button that just told every single person on my friends list to fuck off.

 

[Tanner Glass]

I'd love a button that just told every single person on my friends list to fuck off.

It isn't as overt, but Steam has a "go invisible" button that shows you as offline, even when you aren't.

 

[JM 590]

I'd love a button that just told every single person on my friends list to fuck off.

1. pirate the game
2. add it as a non-Steam game on Steam
3. rename it to "If you're reading this, fuck off"
4. launch it and broadcast your message to everyone online

People don't abuse the ability to rename your non-Steam games enough

 

[WhoBusTank69]

1. pirate the game
2. add it as a non-Steam game on Steam
3. rename it to "If you're reading this, fuck off"
4. launch it and broadcast your message to everyone online

People don't abuse the ability to rename your non-Steam games enough

Use titles like "Putt-Putt Goes to Auschwitz" or "Pajama Sam Prevents the Holodomor" to really raise some eyebrows.

 

[Fuzhou]

1. pirate the game
2. add it as a non-Steam game on Steam
3. rename it to "If you're reading this, fuck off"
4. launch it and broadcast your message to everyone online

People don't abuse the ability to rename your non-Steam games enough

Use titles like "Putt-Putt Goes to Auschwitz" or "Pajama Sam Prevents the Holodomor" to really raise some eyebrows.

Both of these sound like fun ideas.

 

[Snake of Diamond]

So, I bit the bullet and bought an Epic Store game, Dangerous Driving, and while the game is fun, I don't know why but it just feels like it's missing a lot. It's not really just the game, but the store has no overlay to look shit up, and a friends menu, but no way to message people in game.

It's still an infant store front which baffles me as it's missing things that Steam has had for years.

 

[thejackal]

It's still an infant store front which baffles me as it's missing things that Steam has had for years.

What's the bandwidth like? Part of the appeal of steam is your library and how you can manage it so easily given that even massive open world games taking up over 30GB will often download in around an hour or two.

I'm bummed that that new city builder game is Origin only. I missed the boat that it was only on steam until release.

 

[Snake of Diamond]

What's the bandwidth like? Part of the appeal of steam is your library and how you can manage it so easily given that even massive open world games taking up over 30GB will often download in around an hour or two.

I'm bummed that that new city builder game is Origin only. I missed the boat that it was only on steam until release.

That kind of thing is pretty scummy. If a game was already on Steam and people were able to preorder like Metro Exodus I understand the infuriating. As for bandwidth no idea on that I downloaded it just to see how it actually was like the interface and how usable it is. Like I said it doesn't have things that Steam implemented years ago if you're wanting to be better than your competitor you have to actually have to be better. The store front seems like it was made less for the consumer end and more for the publishers we just so happen to be able to use it.

 

[thejackal]

That kind of thing is pretty scummy. If a game was already on Steam and people were able to preorder like Metro Exodus I understand the infuriating. As for bandwidth no idea on that I downloaded it just to see how it actually was like the interface and how usable it is. Like I said it doesn't have things that Steam implemented years ago if you're wanting to be better than your competitor you have to actually have to be better. The store front seems like it was made less for the consumer end and more for the publishers we just so happen to be able to use it.

Thanks and yea, it wasn't obvious on the steam store page for the game, Anno 1800, that it would be removed after release. For all AAA games at that price point I don't care what PC Gamer or IGN says I want to see what people with 100 hours or more say on Steam so I was planning on reading the steam reviews a week after launch and making a decision, was surprised to see it nowhere on Steam the other day.

As for the product itself it sounds like a garbage, half assed glorified launcher that you'd expect if it was still 2008 or something. I'm a bit too old to really "get it" but it seems at least among younger gamers 12-25 the social networking aspects of steam are as important or even more important than the game store itself. Like the other day steam prodded me to "Update my Trophy Case" and I'm like no just let me launch Rust man.

 

[Snake of Diamond]

As for the product itself it sounds like a garbage, half assed glorified launcher that you'd expect if it was still 2008 or something. I'm a bit too old to really "get it" but it seems at least among younger gamers 12-25 the social networking aspects of steam are as important or even more important than the game store itself. Like the other day steam prodded me to "Update my Trophy Case" and I'm like no just let me launch Rust man.

It pretty much is as people who actually looked into it found that despite trying to compete with Steam it lacks the things that make Steam user friendly and like I said these are basic things that even low grade launchers (Like Battle.net for example) have that this full blown store front doesn't have or probably doesn't care to have. I'm 24 and I understand your sentiment as sometimes I'm too burned out to deal with every stopping point and I just want to play a game which Steam allows and even consoles have been doing this (game exclusivity also doesn't exist to the capacity like people think unless it's first party games).

 

[thx1138]

Maybe this is dumb of me, but why don't games companies sell on read-only thumb drives and do installs like MS does Windows? You install it x number of times and it automatically verifies and if you can't get internet access, you have y hours of play or z days to authenticate it, and after that you can still play but it locks at 30fps at a lower res/lower detail mode until you do, just like Windows "depersonalizes" itself if you don't authorize it in what, 10 days?

That way you have a physical copy but not one that'll die due to a single scratch, and the only authentication involved is a single one-time connect. Don't have internet? Activate over the phone. Bing bam boom, done.

Imagine being able to go to a store and buy physical install media for your game again!

Or, hell, let's take it a step further: sell your game on a 64 gig SSD that keeps everything on it, the code is read-only, there's room to save games etc. in protected folders, save options, etc., you just dock it, play it right there, the only thing on the PC is a few registry entries pointing to the right folders. Just pop it in like an old school Atari cartridge.

Eh, but I'm old, and moreover I know that as slick a solution as those things might be, they also put more control back in the hands of PC gamers and that's the last thing these corporate assholes want.

 

[SJ 485]

Maybe this is dumb of me, but why don't games companies sell on read-only thumb drives and do installs like MS does Windows? You install it x number of times and it automatically verifies and if you can't get internet access, you have y hours of play or z days to authenticate it, and after that you can still play but it locks at 30fps at a lower res/lower detail mode until you do, just like Windows "depersonalizes" itself if you don't authorize it in what, 10 days?

That way you have a physical copy but not one that'll die due to a single scratch, and the only authentication involved is a single one-time connect. Don't have internet? Activate over the phone. Bing bam boom, done.

Imagine being able to go to a store and buy physical install media for your game again!

Uh this is what they did 10 years ago, it's expensive as fuck and nobody liked it anyway, digital downloads turned out to be a better deal.

Or, hell, let's take it a step further: sell your game on a 64 gig SSD that keeps everything on it, the code is read-only, there's room to save games etc. in protected folders, save options, etc., you just dock it, play it right there, the only thing on the PC is a few registry entries pointing to the right folders. Just pop it in like an old school Atari cartridge.

Eh, but I'm old, and moreover I know that as slick a solution as those things might be, they also put more control back in the hands of PC gamers and that's the last thing these corporate assholes want.

Jesus Christ, please no. SSDs are cheaper than they used to be but you're still talking about adding like $20 to the price of every game you buy that way. Games on physical storage media protected by DRM is all the disadvantages of physical storage with none of the advantages, it was total garbage, and as much as people complained (and still do) about only owning a license to play a game through Steam, etc. it's still better than that garbage was. At least until Valve goes bankrupt and shuts down the service in 20 years or something.

 

[KingofNothing]

https://www.polygon.com/2019/4/25/18516039/epic-games-store-exclusives-steam-valve-tim-sweeney http://archive.li/TzQk8

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney says that the company will end the practice of securing exclusive game releases for its store if Valve, the company behind Steam, matches Epic’s revenue share for developers and publishers.

Calling Steam’s 30 percent cut on game sales and the platform’s market dominance “the #1 problem for PC developers, publishers, and everyone who relies on those businesses for their livelihood,” Sweeney said in a back-and-forth exchange on Twitter that Epic could back away from the unpopular practice of signing Epic Games Store exclusives.

“If Steam committed to a permanent 88% revenue share for all developers and publishers without major strings attached, Epic would hastily organize a retreat from exclusives (while honoring our partner commitments) and consider putting our own games on Steam,” Sweeney said.

“Such a move would be a glorious moment in the history of PC gaming, and would have a sweeping impact on other platforms for generations to come,” Sweeney added. “Then stores could go back to just being nice places to buy stuff, rather than the Game Developer IRS.”

Epic launched the Epic Games Store in December. The company offered a more appealing revenue split for developers and publishers, taking just 12 percent of each game’s sales, compared to the 30 percent that had been standard on Steam. Just prior to the launch of the Epic Games Store, Valve adjusted its revenue share model, taking a smaller cut in certain circumstances (25 percent for games that earn more than $10 million through Steam, and 20 percent for games that earn more than $50 million). But some PC gamers took issue with Epic’s approach to competing with Steam, which involved signing games to timed-exclusive releases on its store, sometimes even after they had been available for sale on Steam.

While Epic has competed favorably on revenue split, the company’s store and launcher have lacked many of the features Steam users have become accustomed to over the past 15 years. The Epic Games Store has started to catch up in some ways, but some PC gamers still take issue with some of Epic’s business practices.

We’ve reached out to Valve for comment on Sweeney’s comments and will update when the company responds.

Ol' Sweeny is trying to play hardball. Steam lowing their cut would be nice for devs, but fuck off Sweeny, you're not the hero when you're strong arming exclusives. Fix your store and people will flock to you because they want to, not because they have to. But hey, maybe I'm wrong and you gotta twist Steam's arm to get a response out of them.

 

[Violence Jack]

sw\een is my hero. he's single handley saving pc gaming by making it as shitty as possible.

 

[2.D.]

I'm interested to see how this plays out. Valve's already rolling in money, so it wouldn't kill them to do it, but epic's going about it like they're the moral authority when it comes to PC gaming. We can pretty safely say that they're far from that.

 

[nagant 1895]

Did anyone catch this?

https://twitter.com/SatisfactoryAF/status/1121011708292734976

This is what it looks like for indie devs on Epic Store.

https://twitter.com/SatisfactoryAF/status/1121300538673586178

The guy deleted his tweet but he was telling them to put it on steam or he would pirate it. 30 people, 3 years, 9 copies sold. I hope those extra couple of percents were worth it to them.