Hi all, so I thought i'd make this thread for information. This is NOT an Epic store vs Steam thread so please try to keep that discussion out of here.
Basically I had my suspicion over why Ubi decided to ditch steam and go for Epic store and my suspicions were confirmed today. For starters I'll explain how Ubi-steam integration worked in the past and how the Epic integration is entirely different and benefits Ubisoft.
So up until now as you know every ubi game had a "uplay version" and a "steam version", depending on how your purchased the game. The "steam version" always required you to have steam installed and running in background even if you could launch the game from uplay itself. Take this example for Rainbow Six Siege. I own the "uplay version" and the "steam version" both as I originally purchased the uplay version and then later on bought the game on steam which meant I got "two copies" on my uplay account...but one of them requires me to launch steam and the other doesn't:
But the "steam version" is more than just a shortcut. As I've already mentioned it requires you to run steam in the background but that's not it, the biggest differentiation is that when you actually try to make an ingame purchase through the "steam version" you absolutely HAVE to process the payment through steam. You don't get any other option at all. What this means is that steam made a 20% cut (since the cut was lower for big publisher) not only on every game purchase but every single mtx. As you can see below:
Now if I were to look at the same store after launching the "uplay version" the payment options changed for me. Now I can process the payment on uplay itself and Ubi gets 100% of my mtx money:
When Ubi went EGS exclusive, I suspected that in return for being the 3rd party exclusive for one of the biggest games this year Epic may allow Ubi to have a lot more control over the non Uplay version than steam and I was absolutely right ! Basically the Epic store version is truly nothing more than a shortcut. Once you install it on epic launcher the game links to your uplay and adds the game in your uplay account. After this point you can pretty much uninstall Epic Launcher if you want to and run the game from uplay entirely as the Epic launcher is NEVER used for anything else. But wait there's more ! Not only is this the case but also the ingame store is now entirely managed through uplay....regardless of whether you boot the game from uplay or epic store.
The Division 2 store as it appears when you launch the game from uplay:
The Division 2 store as you get when you launch from Epic launcher:
Absolutely no difference ! This brings me back to a comment Ubi made about how they will make "select tittles" exclusive to Epic store. I originally guessed that they meant all of their GaaS titles, with their non GaaS/light GaaS titles being available on steam too. Since mtx is how these games make money it would make sense for Ubi to make it Epic store exclusive so that they make 100% of the mtx money from every single transaction.
Basically I had my suspicion over why Ubi decided to ditch steam and go for Epic store and my suspicions were confirmed today. For starters I'll explain how Ubi-steam integration worked in the past and how the Epic integration is entirely different and benefits Ubisoft.
So up until now as you know every ubi game had a "uplay version" and a "steam version", depending on how your purchased the game. The "steam version" always required you to have steam installed and running in background even if you could launch the game from uplay itself. Take this example for Rainbow Six Siege. I own the "uplay version" and the "steam version" both as I originally purchased the uplay version and then later on bought the game on steam which meant I got "two copies" on my uplay account...but one of them requires me to launch steam and the other doesn't:
But the "steam version" is more than just a shortcut. As I've already mentioned it requires you to run steam in the background but that's not it, the biggest differentiation is that when you actually try to make an ingame purchase through the "steam version" you absolutely HAVE to process the payment through steam. You don't get any other option at all. What this means is that steam made a 20% cut (since the cut was lower for big publisher) not only on every game purchase but every single mtx. As you can see below:
Now if I were to look at the same store after launching the "uplay version" the payment options changed for me. Now I can process the payment on uplay itself and Ubi gets 100% of my mtx money:
When Ubi went EGS exclusive, I suspected that in return for being the 3rd party exclusive for one of the biggest games this year Epic may allow Ubi to have a lot more control over the non Uplay version than steam and I was absolutely right ! Basically the Epic store version is truly nothing more than a shortcut. Once you install it on epic launcher the game links to your uplay and adds the game in your uplay account. After this point you can pretty much uninstall Epic Launcher if you want to and run the game from uplay entirely as the Epic launcher is NEVER used for anything else. But wait there's more ! Not only is this the case but also the ingame store is now entirely managed through uplay....regardless of whether you boot the game from uplay or epic store.
The Division 2 store as it appears when you launch the game from uplay:
The Division 2 store as you get when you launch from Epic launcher:
Absolutely no difference ! This brings me back to a comment Ubi made about how they will make "select tittles" exclusive to Epic store. I originally guessed that they meant all of their GaaS titles, with their non GaaS/light GaaS titles being available on steam too. Since mtx is how these games make money it would make sense for Ubi to make it Epic store exclusive so that they make 100% of the mtx money from every single transaction.
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