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Epic declines to sell SkateBIRD on the EGS because the developers wont ditch Steam [update: see threadmark for dev comment]

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Tygre

Tygre

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,121
Chesire, UK
You may or may not be aware of SkateBIRD:
smooth-grind-line.gif


I think SkateBIRD looks awesome, but apparently Epic are less interested in how cool a game is, and more interested in making sure games aren't sold on Steam.



Willing to ditch Steam? You and Epic will get along just fine! They'll definitely make it worth your while.

Refuse to kick Steam to the kerb? Well Epic were never interested in you anyway, and you smell funny! Get out of our walled garden!


SkateBIRD is available to Wishlist on Steam if, unlike Epic, you think it looks kickin' rad:

 
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Remark

Remark

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,561
I mean this is nothing new. For them right now they want only exclusives, we already see that.
 
Surface of Me

Surface of Me

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,207
But I thought Tim Sweeney wanted to support independent developers and allow them to make as much money as possible?
 
sredgrin

sredgrin

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
12,276
Well, no shit. They have like maybe less than 5 games that did dual launches. The only other "also on steam" games tend to be the older backlog stuff (Ubisoft + Free games).

This thread (and some of the replies) is really weird in tone given this is basically what they have been doing the entire time.
 
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Saucycarpdog

Saucycarpdog

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,354
Not really surprising. Epic has already said exclusivity is their main strategy to beat Steam. A game being sold on both platforms doesn't help with this.
 
TeenageFBI

TeenageFBI

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,242
God, Epic sucks. It's like they're going out of their way to ruin the stuff I love about the PC platform.
 
Doskoi Panda

Doskoi Panda

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,971
How many times will Epic fuck up, and confirm and validate all that I've wrote about them to date?
 
karnage10

karnage10

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,505
Portugal
Dandy

Dandy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,462
Tim cares so much about the unfair split that he needs to employ tough love on the indie devs who won't help themselves.
 
thecaseace

thecaseace

Member
May 1, 2018
3,219
This is in-keeping with Epic's strategy so far. Hoard the exclusives people want until the biggest fans of those properties cave in and get an Epic account. Whether or not it works is down to the size of Epic's pockets and the opinions of significantly more consumers than there are on this forum.

But as already mentioned, this is how business and more specifically competition works. We can sit and watch and vote with our wallets as much as it helps.
 
TreeMePls

TreeMePls

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,258
If only they cared about adding a functional shopping cart to their store as much as they care for having exclusives
 
justiceiro

justiceiro

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
6,664
What that tweet said and what the title is suggesting is a little different.

Sound more like epic doesn't want to promote the game right now if its not a exclusive. Not rejecting a alreadly released game.
 
Remark

Remark

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,561
Billfisto said:
That's weird, though. If you can't pay to get it exclusively, why not still sell it? They're just leaving money on the table while also making their own platform have less selection.
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Because they a selection of games you can only get on their platform.

I guess they don't see it as worth it for games available on other platforms since they think people would just pick up on other platforms.
 
neonneongod

neonneongod

Member
Feb 21, 2019
294
Trace said:
I'm sure if CDPR was interested at all, Epic would pay any amount of money for that exclusivity. Obviously they aren't interested though.
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not sure epic is willing to shell out the amount of money that an exclusive of that level would require frankly

it's one thing dropping 30, 40 million for 2.5A games like borderlands, outer worlds, etc. Cyberpunk would probably run them like 15-20x that.
 
ListeningGarden

ListeningGarden

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,497
nausicaa said:

In her follow-up post she says they didn't specify if this means releasing on the store or just a grant. May be best to hold off the hot takes until they actually bother to get clarification.
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If it says they're focusing on exclusives, then that is a direct response to an inquiry about being on the storefront. Epic Grants is a no-strings-attached, separate program that is actually super wonderful and a part of Epic that I think is an overall good for the dev scene. They do not tie Grants to exclusivity for eligibility, as the teams handling them are separate and have their own defined criteria.

Megan is good people, she's been outspoken against many of Steam's shortcomings as well as been positive towards EGS in the past. Frustratingly, she's been shown directly by Epic that they aren't exactly interested in helping the actual small developer through the EGS nearly as much as they say they are. She's taking it well though, and SkateBIRD is looking to do decently! So, I'm glad that she won't be negatively affected by Epic's refusal to even allow the game on their store.

Something I did find interesting about this was their point on refusing due to promises of Steam keys in the Kickstarter. That hasn't stopped them in the past, and Sweeney sounded pretty adamant that they would continue that approach for the foreseeable future. Has that policy changed? Was it just a convenient way to tell her off because they don't think SkateBIRD passes their bar for curation?
 
Hucast

Hucast

alt account
Banned
Mar 25, 2019
3,598
Silky said:
This is the best consecutive string of posts on this site.

Developer gives reasonable response to not being on a platform, unhinged gamer loses it
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My response is at the pettyness of epic towards one store specifically. Their obsession with steam is quite unhealthy
 
Billfisto

Billfisto

Member
Oct 30, 2017
14,957
Canada
Remark said:
Because they a selection of games you can only get on their platform.

I guess they don't see it as worth it for games available on other platforms since they think people would just pick up on other platforms.
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Yeah, but normally having exclusives doesn't preclude you from also wanting to sell the things that are available elsewhere.

All they're doing is basically forcing customers that would buy the game on EGS for whatever reason to buy the game elsewhere.
 
Death Penalty

Death Penalty

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
3,307
This is really weird to me and the only reason I can think for it is pettiness.

It doesn't hurt Epic to sell games that Steam also sells. In fact, it lends credibility to the idea of them as a Steam competitor. It seems like a clear win for them to get games regardless of other platforms, even Steam.
 
Xyber

Xyber

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,296
Billfisto said:
That's weird, though. If you can't pay to get it exclusively, why not still sell it? They're just leaving money on the table while also making their own platform have less selection.
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Because it won't sell at all in their store if it's also available on steam. Unless people are forced to buy something on EGS, 98% will most likely buy it on steam.
 
Remark

Remark

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,561
Billfisto said:
Yeah, but normally having exclusives doesn't preclude you from also wanting to sell the things that are available elsewhere.

All they're doing is basically forcing customers that would buy the game on EGS for whatever reason to buy the game elsewhere.
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I mean yeah, because with a dual launch who's gonna go out of their way to buy on EGS when they could get it on Steam with the rest of their library.

Epic knows what their doing.
 
Musubi

Musubi

Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
23,611
I mean.... that is how business works? Epic has a specific strategy and not every game is a fit for that. They are a storefront selling games. People acting like this is Epic taking a personal jab or something at the developer are completely missing the mark here.
 
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