Ooblets will be exclusive to Epic Games Store on PC

[Siresly]

You'll have to install EGS if you wanna buy Ooblets on PC. I know that's asking a lot but I believe in you and your ability to download a free thing and create a user account (if you haven't already done so to play Fortnite which I KNOW YOU HAVE).

Click to shrink...

Nah I'm good. See you in a year maybe.

This attempt at defending Epic's "pay to remove options for consumers" strategy, is a dismissive failure. In this case it's also someone who took the moneybag, so like...might as well be Epic posting this.

I completely understand why companies take the deal, but doing so and then admonishing people for not ignoring the negative impact this has on them and instead being excited about the company getting a bunch of money, is weird and offputting. Doesn't exactly endear me to the idea of supporting you.

I'd previously put Ooblets in my top 10 because it looked quite jolly, which I've been properly in the mood for, along with Wattam and Untitled Goose Game. And The Good Life, which thanks to Epic x Shenmue 3 will be the last game I ever crowdfund. But now this episode has tainted Ooblets a bit, with its distinct unjollyness.

This kerfuffle is not something that would stop me from buying Ooblets when it's available elsewhere, but it's just...ugh, you know? Like they didn't read the staff post.

 

[ZeoVGM]

"I'll try calling them mentally ill! That's a good trick!"

Click to shrink...

Don't turn conspiracy theorist over an incredibly innocent joke tweet and I won't say you're acting crazy about it.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

People can keep getting pissed off at Epic, but this is a way for smaller devs to ensure their continued survival. Can't fault that.

Click to shrink...

I mean, I can't fault them and they can't expect my money. Seems like a fair exchange if you ask me.

 

[SteveWinwood]

i don't why people are still posting about this

we could have solved climate change by now

 

[dex3108]

People can keep getting pissed off at Epic, but this is a way for smaller devs to ensure their continued survival. Can't fault that.

Click to shrink...

They won't have safenet forever, Epic won't pay them forever. And in my opinion that is big issue. At some point in your life as indie developer you will need to learn how to sell your game.

 

[ev0]

Which is?

Click to shrink...

*HEY YOU ARE ALL ASSHOLES
*who the heck are you calling an asshole, wtf douche!
*OMG SEE LOOKIT ALL THE ASSHOLES

 

[Deleted member 48897]

If they gave a completely neutral response, would that have resulted in a much more positive response than we are seeing here?

Click to shrink...

Seems unlikely given that they're not the first company to make this decision and echo the given reasoning, but then they do seem to be the first one that was crowdfunded by patreon instead of kickstarter, etc.

 

[Static]

PR absolutely should be their job because they chose to make a product that demands PR and chose to do it themselves instead of shutting up and getting someone else to do it for them.

This idea that PR is some tertiary thing that doesn't matter is a fundamental misunderstanding of how business, especially public-facing businesses such as video games, work. It just reeks of snobbery in my eyes because you'd never see someone go "but coding shouldn't even be their fucking job!" or "but animation shouldn't even be their fucking job!" if a developer ballsed up their coding or animation.

Click to shrink...

I guess. It's just a bummer to see people who are interested in doing one thing have to wear so many other hats to make it viable, you know? Being a hype man isn't the job they probably wanted for themselves but here they are, regardless. I just can't sum up the will to be that vindictive over this fuck up. I feel like there has to be some degree of leeway here on my end. I see how you'd feel differently though.

Honestly, this is a red flag that they aren't even confident in their own game,

Click to shrink...

This I disagree with outright though. They are absolutely not signalling a lack of confidence in their own game. From all indications, these EGS deals don't signal a lack of confidence in a developer's or publisher's product, they signal a love of money. From everything that we've heard, these people are WELL compensated and UP FRONT to boot. They get their upfront signing fee or whatever. They get a higher cut. They get the publicity of a thread like this (I hadn't even heard of this game until this thread.) And then if EGS doesn't move as many units for them as they anticipated from other stores, EGS apparently makes up the difference. And then on top of it all, they get to turn around and sell it on the other store fronts 6 months or a year or whatever later, picking up a whole lot of the sales they would've been missing until this point, and potentially even some double dips.

That's an intimidatingly good offer. In light of all this shit, the accusation that accepting an Epic deal signals "a lack of confidence in their own product" smells of dishonesty to me.

*HEY YOU ARE ALL ASSHOLES

Click to shrink...

Well they've certainly got my number.

 

[Plum]

Don't turn conspiracy theorist over an incredibly innocent joke tweet and I won't say you're acting crazy about it.

Click to shrink...

Yeah stop using accusations mental illness as a crutch because you can't come up with another argument beyond "they tweeted that because they tweeted that!" Just let it go and move on, because doing what you're doing right now will only fuck over people who actually are 'crazy' by perpetuating the idea that mental illness is just something you can apply to other people just to win a petty-ass internet argument.

I guess. It's just a bummer to see people who are interested in doing one thing have to wear so many other hats to make it viable, you know? Being a hype man isn't the job they probably wanted for themselves but here they are, regardless. I just can't sum up the will to be that vindictive over this fuck up. I feel like there has to be some degree of leeway here on my end. I see how you'd feel differently though.

Click to shrink...

Thing is it's part of the job description when you decide to make something independently instead of joining a bigger studio; having to do every aspect of development (and publishing/securing a publishing deal) yourself is a fact of life. If you aren't willing to take that fact seriously then there's a fair chance that it will backfire, and that's nobody's fault but your own because that's simply how things work.

Imagine it like this: if the Ooblets team had been forced to delay or cancel the game due to a completely avoidable accounting error then I doubt anyone would say "they shouldn't have to do accounting!" because, in the end, they chose to do accounting when they chose to do it themselves as part of their project. That's because accounting isn't generally seen as 'tertiary' to a project in the way PR is. But, as someone who has studied PR and seen many examples of people with no PR training (or PR awareness) fucking things up for themselves, I can safely say it's just as important as any other part of independent game development.

 

[Nzyme32]

I have never heard of OOblets before today, but they made a new fan with that blog post .
I will buy this game and dance with garden gnomes or whatever you do in OOblets, looks delightful

People should really learn to chill with their whole " They tageted Gamers. GAMERS" insecurity .

Click to shrink...

Except plenty of people - myself included, have the same distaste for "gamers tm", and also don't fit in that sphere. That doesn't mean that everyone who has problems with EGS, and the arguments of the blogpost are ergo "gamers tm"
After all the posts and explanations from people who game on PC, it is very well justified why EGS, isn't "just a launcher" and how you can easily take down each argument made in the dev's post. As someone that has followed the game since it showed up on Steam to wishlist - I won't buy the game from a service so inferior, unreliable, poor supported, and with questionable perpetuity. By the time it ends up on a better service, they almost certainly will have lost a sale from me anyway, since a competing game is gonna get my money instead.

The additional gall from their discord response, that such users "wouldn't have bought the game anyway" both shows the complete lack of understanding they have for many PC customers, and for the ecosystem itself. Regardless, they almost certainly genuinely do not care, as seems to be clear from the post. They need that safety and money etc. Good for them, better for their competitors

 

[fleet]

i love not keeping up with the nuances of video game drama and watching it all unfold for reasons unknown. "tiny unheard of indie game plans to be exclusive on video game launcher, devs write kind of snarky blog post" = 22 pages of heated argument, personal attacks, tears, accusations of political impurity... you can't make this shit up

 

[Remo Williams]

I think that this thread has more posts than all the previous Ooblets threads combined. Good, the future GOTY of whichever year it finally comes out deserves more visibility.

 

[Sign My Guestbook!]

I think that this thread has more posts than all the previous Ooblets threads combined. Good, the future GOTY of whichever year it finally comes out deserves more visibility.

Click to shrink...

we could've been fellow fans

someone call The Doctor while we still can, we're in the wrong timeline

 

[PennyStonks]

Good to know for sure they're literally just buying projected sold copies. Buying EGS games doesn't support devs. It helps EGS out of the holes they are digging to make these deals.

 

[Sign My Guestbook!]

Good to know for sure they're literally just buying projected sold copies.

Click to shrink...

It's what I kinda always suspected.

 

[Dandy]

I guess it's easy to write off 1000s of potential customers as angry Gamers™ when you have a sales guarantee from Tim. Normally I would just wait for the Steam release but that condescending announcement has put me off buying it at all.

 

[ZeoVGM]

Yeah stop using accusations mental illness as a crutch because you can't come up with another argument beyond "they tweeted that because they tweeted that!" Just let it go and move on, because doing what you're doing right now will only fuck over people who actually are 'crazy' by perpetuating the idea that mental illness is just something you can apply to other people just to win a petty-ass internet argument.

Click to shrink...

Holy crap.

 

[Everybody Lies]

something something if you aren't seeing it you clearly aren't looking... ;-)

I suppose we'll see. Certainly hasn't hurt the visibility.

tbh I'll probably play it on Xbox if I do play it.

Click to shrink...

That visibility goes both ways. Either way it sounds like the devs were made whole before the game even hits the market. Sounds like they will be just fine.

I feel like raking them over the coals for ... mishandling a delicate PR nightmare or whatever just isn't reasonable. PR shouldn't even be their fuckin job. They don't need me givin em heck for it. They're doing fine imo. People are too sensitive.

I say this as a huge steam fanboy who should be deeply offended by all of their aspersions of my verminous kind. keep on truckin, ooblets devs.

Samey samey.

Click to shrink...

P.R. 101: Never insult or alienate those that may be your potential customers -- especially when you are using veiled corporate talking points to do so. Also, when you are a small independent anything, you are responsible for promoting your endeavor and for the PR of it. No one else is going to do it for you. They should have known better and hopefully they do now.

 

[Bunkles]

In before [See Threadmarks] or [Read Mod Post]

Ya'll getting nuts in here.

 

[Messofanego]

I loved what I played an year or so ago at EGX, so can't wait. Glad to hear they got funding to release their game finally.

 

[makonero]

i love not keeping up with the nuances of video game drama and watching it all unfold for reasons unknown. "tiny unheard of indie game plans to be exclusive on video game launcher, devs write kind of snarky blog post" = 22 pages of heated argument, personal attacks, tears, accusations of political impurity... you can't make this shit up

Click to shrink...

It's truly amazing to watch.

Btw still buying this game.

 

[Plum]

Holy crap.

Click to shrink...

So you really don't see the issue in using mental illness as a beating stick? Or is it that, because you've deemed me a "crazy" person, anything I say is only deserving of a "holy crap look at this wacko" response?

 

[collige]

Bookmarking this for when people inevitably bring up the 88/12 cut as if that still matter

PR absolutely should be their job because they chose to make a product that demands PR and chose to do it themselves instead of shutting up and getting someone else to do it for them.

This idea that PR is some tertiary thing that doesn't matter is a fundamental misunderstanding of how business, especially public-facing businesses such as video games, work. It just reeks of snobbery in my eyes because you'd never see someone go "but coding shouldn't even be their fucking job!" or "but animation shouldn't even be their fucking job!" if a developer ballsed up their coding or animation.

Click to shrink...

A myopic view might argue that there's no need for them to do any PR for the game at all at this point since they don't need to actually sell it.

 

[fleet]

Yeah stop using accusations mental illness as a crutch because you can't come up with another argument beyond "they tweeted that because they tweeted that!" Just let it go and move on, because doing what you're doing right now will only fuck over people who actually are 'crazy' by perpetuating the idea that mental illness is just something you can apply to other people just to win a petty-ass internet argument.

Click to shrink...

i think it's time to log off

 

[Acinixys]

I understand wanting the cash but this is still such a regrettable situation. I was looking forward this game for a long time but won't be buying it on the EGS.

Click to shrink...

I 724th this

So many games I was interested in going into the trash because they are now EGS exclusives

At least it will come to Steam one day and be 80% off on a sale

 

[chrominance]

They won't have safenet forever, Epic won't pay them forever. And in my opinion that is big issue. At some point in your life as indie developer you will need to learn how to sell your game.

Click to shrink...

In the book publishing industry, the concept of an advance against royalties has been around for decades and is essentially the norm at publishing houses (self-publishing and vanity publishing is obviously different). That's basically what's happening here: Epic is paying a guaranteed revenue cut against X number of sales, and the Ooblets devs don't see a penny more unless and until they sell more than that amount.

Technically you're right in that Epic can decide to end this arrangement any time they want, and any games that come out after that point will have to fend for themselves. Epic could also decide to reduce the advances as their storefront becomes more popular, thus making it less attractive for developers to sign. But it's not necessarily clear that this will happen, given that the model works in other industries. Given that it leads to additional financial stability for devs (they know exactly how much money they'll make for the game, and can budget against that figure to decide on project scope and length), it seems like it'd be a good thing for this kind of arrangement to flourish in the industry.

The tougher question, of course, is whether this financial stability (and the theoretical promise of more sustainable game development and/or better games) is worth the forced storefront exclusivity. I can't answer that question for anyone besides myself.

 

[ZeoVGM]

So you really don't see the issue in using mental illness as a beating stick? Or is it that, because you've deemed me a "crazy" person, anything I say is only deserving of a "holy crap look at this wacko" response?

Click to shrink...

"Crazy" does not only mean mental illness.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crazy

3a: distracted with desire or excitement
a thrill-crazy mob
The fans went crazy when their team won the championship.

b: absurdly fond : INFATUATED
He's crazy about the girl.

c: passionately preoccupied : OBSESSED
crazy about boats

like crazy
: to an extreme degree
everyone dancing like crazy

Click to shrink...

You're trying to turn this into some "gotcha!" moment but you're just embarrassing yourself.

 

[Sign My Guestbook!]

I 724th this

So many games I was interested in going into the trash because they are now EGS exclusives

At least it will come to Steam one day and be 80% off on a sale

Click to shrink...

Not sure I'd buy it if it came back in a year or something. This whole affair leaves a taste in my mouth. I don't really want to taste it again.

 

[Sei]

It's ok to just say that they wanted the money, I don't know why they felt the need to say more.

It is also very clear that the right thing for me to do as a consumer, that wants to support indie game developers, that wants more new games to succeed. Would be to buy games from those indie devs that are NOT taking EGS money. These guys are already guaranteed to be successful, now I should support those that aren't.

 

[Mobyduck]

In the book publishing industry, the concept of an advance against royalties has been around for decades and is essentially the norm at publishing houses (self-publishing and vanity publishing is obviously different). That's basically what's happening here: Epic is paying a guaranteed revenue cut against X number of sales, and the Ooblets devs don't see a penny more unless and until they sell more than that amount.

Technically you're right in that Epic can decide to end this arrangement any time they want, and any games that come out after that point will have to fend for themselves. Epic could also decide to reduce the advances as their storefront becomes more popular, thus making it less attractive for developers to sign. But it's not necessarily clear that this will happen, given that the model works in other industries. Given that it leads to additional financial stability for devs (they know exactly how much money they'll make for the game, and can budget against that figure to decide on project scope and length), it seems like it'd be a good thing for this kind of arrangement to flourish in the industry.

The tougher question, of course, is whether this financial stability (and the theoretical promise of more sustainable game development and/or better games) is worth the forced storefront exclusivity. I can't answer that question for anyone besides myself.

Click to shrink...

Small indie devs seem to believe so:

 

[SmAsH]

So they got their short term secured, but they went about it by being condescending and frankly asshole-ish. Why? Just say you wanted the money.

My question then goes to what they think their long term goals are? Their next game, will be met with hesitation and resent over the comments they have made - indie games rely heavily on word of mouth and the more hardcore crowd to help build that initial foundation of players. Do they not think about the long term future of their company or do they just not care and they'll go under a different name?

How short-sighted and stupid can you be as a developer to publish a blog post like this? EGS stuff aside, this is completely unprofessional. I can't wait to see these devs 5 years+ in the future when Epic isn't pushing the same initiative for exclusives. Doesn't matter now though, they got their negative attention, they won their short-term vision.

 

[dex3108]

In the book publishing industry, the concept of an advance against royalties has been around for decades and is essentially the norm at publishing houses (self-publishing and vanity publishing is obviously different). That's basically what's happening here: Epic is paying a guaranteed revenue cut against X number of sales, and the Ooblets devs don't see a penny more unless and until they sell more than that amount.

Technically you're right in that Epic can decide to end this arrangement any time they want, and any games that come out after that point will have to fend for themselves. Epic could also decide to reduce the advances as their storefront becomes more popular, thus making it less attractive for developers to sign. But it's not necessarily clear that this will happen, given that the model works in other industries. Given that it leads to additional financial stability for devs (they know exactly how much money they'll make for the game, and can budget against that figure to decide on project scope and length), it seems like it'd be a good thing for this kind of arrangement to flourish in the industry.

The tougher question, of course, is whether this financial stability (and the theoretical promise of more sustainable game development and/or better games) is worth the forced storefront exclusivity. I can't answer that question for anyone besides myself.

Click to shrink...

If epic wants store to be sustainable they can't just go around and spend Fortnite money. Store needs to support itself. They already spent so much money that they probably won't see back form the store in next few years. Remember Epic is running store at 12% and like more than half of that are just store costs.

 

[Deleted member 6215]

"We didn't want those customers anyway."

 

[TheKeipatzy]

Still no staff post? *Sigh*

I was with these guys I've actually found some of what they said pretty cute in their initial PR blurb.

Then it just got crazy. Think I might get it on Xbox later. On sale. They can use Epic until then.

 

[Plum]

A myopic view might argue that there's no need for them to do any PR for the game at all at this point since they don't need to actually sell it.

Click to shrink...

I suppose, but that's coming from the view that 1) lost sales don't matter and 2) the long-term doesn't matter. PR affects both things and, right now, they're really not doing a good job at it.

i think it's time to log off

Click to shrink...

Really?

"Crazy" does not only mean mental illness.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crazy

You're trying to turn this into some "gotcha!" moment but you're just embarrassing yourself.

Click to shrink...

Don't pull that when this was your reply when I first directly said that you had called me mentally ill:

Don't turn conspiracy theorist over an incredibly innocent joke tweet and I won't say you're acting crazy about it.

Click to shrink...

So you think mentally ill = crazy then but now that you've been called out for it (twice you suddenly argue that they're totally different things? Yeah, I don't believe it.

But anyway, your link directly harms what little point you have. None of the definitions you listed could adequately explain what you meant when you said I was "acting crazy," and that I "sounded crazy." Do you think I was acting "full of cracks and flaws," or "Impractical" or "distracted with desire and excitement"? Right now the only definition that fits is the "not mentally sound" one.

EDIT: And that's not to mention how the whole "but definitions!" argument really doesn't work when the connotations are blatantly there. Saying that calling someone a "crazy conspiracy theorist" in a derogatory manner has nothing to do with mental illness is like a homophobe unironically calling a man a "gay fashion designer," in a derogatory manner and then going "oh no, I just think they're a happy fashion designer!" It's especially egregious when it took you to a third reply to finally 'explain' what your 'true intentions' were.

EDIT 2: It's also telling that you immediately jump to "oh you're just trying for a gotcha you crazy person you're embarrassing yourself!" the instant someone takes offence to your usage of terms associated with mental health.

 

[Bunkles]

 

[chrominance]

If epic wants store to be sustainable they can't just go around and spend Fortnite money. Store needs to support itself. They already spent so much money that they probably won't see back form the store in next few years. Remember Epic is running store at 12% and like more than half of that are just store costs.

Click to shrink...

That's true, but this assumes that Epic is giving out shitty advances. Ideally you'd be basing your advance on a reasonable expectation of how many copies you can sell. Saying you'll pay out the normal revshare on expected sales of 200,000, and then only managing to sell 17,000 copies, is clearly bad business practice. Paying out against expected sales of 200,000 and then actually selling 200,000 is still technically less money for Epic than just paying royalties on a per-unit basis, because you pay out that money now instead of being able to invest that capital in, say, the business, or the stock market, or buying a bunch of lottery tickets, and then paying out to devs once you've reaped some gain on those interim investments. But it's a much more sustainable practice from Epic's perspective.

Chances are at least some of the deals Epic's making with indie devs are more generous than this. Epic may have decided that the prestige of having those titles is worth the extra royalties, if it means people come to think of Epic as the first-on-PC home of neat arthouse indie titles. But even if Epic only cuts advance cheques based on conservative estimates of expected sales, that can still be a win for small developers.

I also think that if Epic ends up rolling back some of its supposed developer-friendly initiatives like 88% revshare, that just means people will jump ship back to Steam or put their games on multiple services. I don't see any reason for indie devs not to be mercenary on this front.

 

[zashga]

+1 respect for being up front on the decision being about money. -1 respect for regurgitating garbage takes about that's just how software is, Steam wasn't great 15 years ago, don't you have something more important to worry about, etc. Guess I'm still not interested in Ooblets.

 

[Sankara]

i love not keeping up with the nuances of video game drama and watching it all unfold for reasons unknown. "tiny unheard of indie game plans to be exclusive on video game launcher, devs write kind of snarky blog post" = 22 pages of heated argument, personal attacks, tears, accusations of political impurity... you can't make this shit up

Click to shrink...

This made me laugh out loud

 

[Rubblatus]

"An jeez, a charming new indie game just popped up on my radar! If only I had the time and money to support these developers!"
"Don't worry, Rubb! We'll take this one for you!"
"Wow! Thanks Epic!"
"Don't thank us, just install the client!"
"Nah I'm good."

I can't even be mad anymore.

 

[Garlic]

i love not keeping up with the nuances of video game drama and watching it all unfold for reasons unknown. "tiny unheard of indie game plans to be exclusive on video game launcher, devs write kind of snarky blog post" = 22 pages of heated argument, personal attacks, tears, accusations of political impurity... you can't make this shit up

Click to shrink...

This isn't even about the particular games anymore.

 

[Deleted member 401]

Console gamers when Ooblets on PC requires a new login: "It's just another launcher, no big deal."

Console gamers when Doom on Switch requires a new login:

 

[ZeoVGM]

So you think mentally ill = crazy then but now that you've been called out for it (twice you suddenly argue that they're totally different things? Yeah, I don't believe it.

But anyway, your link directly harms what little point you have. None of the definitions you listed could adequately explain what you meant when you said I was "acting crazy," and that I "sounded crazy." Do you think I was acting "full of cracks and flaws," or "Impractical" or "distracted with desire and excitement"? Right now the only definition that fits is the "not mentally sound" one.

EDIT: And that's not to mention how the whole "but definitions!" argument really doesn't work when the connotations are blatantly there. Saying that calling someone a "crazy conspiracy theorist" in a derogatory manner has nothing to do with mental illness is like a homophobe unironically calling a man a "gay fashion designer," in a derogatory manner and then going "oh no, I just think they're a happy fashion designer!

Click to shrink...

I legitimately have no words for this right now.

Holy shit, what are you doing?

 

[Sign My Guestbook!]

Console gamers when Ooblets on PC requires a new login: "It's just another launcher, no big deal."

Console gamers when Doom on Switch requires a new login:

Click to shrink...

This kind of clouds the argument, don't you think? Doom is a classic game that you can put on a couple of floppies and play on a toaster in the middle of Siberia. Extremely moddable. It's the old Volkswagen Beetle of games. Of course people will lose their shit if someone tries badgering you to login to play it.

 

[funky]

Its like developers only develop games so they can pay their rent and feed their families.

 

[Deleted member 401]

This kind of clouds the argument, don't you think? Doom is a classic game that you can put on a couple of floppies and play on a toaster in the middle of Siberia. Extremely moddable. It's the old Volkswagen Beetle of games. Of course people will lose their shit if someone tries badgering you to login to play it.

Click to shrink...

I feel like the reaction would largely be the same if it was any other high-profile single-player game.

 

[disparate]

I don't begrudge them for taking the cash and saying they're exclusive because they're taking the cash. I also:

1. don't care about them going on about them keeping the lights on, you're a company selling me software, we're not friends
2. don't care for them acting like toxic dickheads

Its like developers only develop games so they can pay their rent and feed their families.

Click to shrink...

They're just companies selling software.

 

[khamakazee]

Another game not to buy for a long time if ever.

Click to shrink...

What a terrible attitude. You hold so much resentment towards anyone who doesn't abide by your moral high ground and think everyone should be punished. You'd rather the game fail and the developer suffer for making such deals, makes me wonder how much you actually enjoy playing the.games.

 

[dex3108]

That's true, but this assumes that Epic is giving out shitty advances. Ideally you'd be basing your advance on a reasonable expectation of how many copies you can sell. Saying you'll pay out the normal revshare on expected sales of 200,000, and then only managing to sell 17,000 copies, is clearly bad business practice. Paying out against expected sales of 200,000 and then actually selling 200,000 is still technically less money for Epic than just paying royalties on a per-unit basis, because you pay out that money now instead of being able to invest that capital in, say, the business, or the stock market, or buying a bunch of lottery tickets, and then paying out to devs once you've reaped some gain on those interim investments. But it's a much more sustainable practice from Epic's perspective.

Chances are at least some of the deals Epic's making with indie devs are more generous than this. Epic may have decided that the prestige of having those titles is worth the extra royalties, if it means people come to think of Epic as the first-on-PC home of neat arthouse indie titles. But even if Epic only cuts advance cheques based on conservative estimates of expected sales, that can still be a win for small developers.

I also think that if Epic ends up rolling back some of its supposed developer-friendly initiatives like 88% revshare, that just means people will jump ship back to Steam or put their games on multiple services. I don't see any reason for indie devs not to be mercenary on this front.

Click to shrink...

They are giving a lot of money that is sure thing. But they put themselves in tough place because as soon as they stop paying for exclusivity developers will release their games on multiple stores (as they should, that is best way to sell your product). And in the other hand they are creating expectations for any future developer that they will pay in advance for every game on their store and that they will guarantee minimum sales. And those are unrealistic expectations. And what is their policy for keys outside Epic? There is big chance that some of the bigger games on Steam that are sold outside of Steam as Steam keys have split close to 1:1 between sales on and off the Steam (Valve gets 0% from sales outside of Steam). If something similar happens to game on Epic Store their cut is even less. As i said Epic won't pay forever but it will be damn hard to win your customers back when that happens and you need to sell game on other stores.

 

[Deleted member 2802]

I had Ooblets wishlisted on Steam right after E3