Hey guys I haven't read this 500 post thread but I don't get the hate it's just a launcher and good for devs and Valve is a moponoly.
SHRUG.
SHRUG.
Interesting to see people who have no engagement in PC topics popping in to tell us how insightful and interesting this article is.
Sorry I haven't been keeping up with the intense history and nuance behind the great launcher war of 2019. I guess this is what I get for wading in without having every single PDF and historical document available to me.
It doesnt have a shopping cart.... It may function to literallyly open game applications but is very substandard on every other level.
I think mods are trying their best with these threads but a crack down on these bad faith drive bys wouldn't go a missed
That's the larger issue around discussion of this topic.
Most arguments are in bad faith by folks with no other reason than to drive-by, troll or otherwise cry about Valve / Steam / PC gaming, in the most tribal way.
Some things I think most PC gamers agree upon, and is always proven in each thread:
Just as another example beyond EGS, look how the community of PC gamers responded to Facebook's attempt to lock games to Oculus hardware and prevent using applications in tandem with any games, to modify as is expected of Win32 applications.
- fully support open competition
- fully support multiple storefronts including EGS competing with each other through service and features
- do not support non-competitive strategies such as forced exclusivity of games to a singular store
- support first part exclusivity of games to said storefront
- expect a certain level of quality and features as a baseline from any store ecosystem, such that games, purchasing, refunds, support are serviceable
- Recognise that Steam's ecosystem, features and tools extend far beyond a simple storefront offering, but don't expect Epic to match such features fully if at all. But do expect them to meet a baseline
I absolutely do not support exclusivity on any level in PC if its done for the sake of keeping it exclusive like other stores do. A game should be available everywhere if possible regardless if its Minecraft, Fortnite or Half Life: Alyx.
Agree with all those except for..
I absolutely do not support exclusivity on any level in PC if its done for the sake of keeping it exclusive. A game should be available everywhere if possible.
I see but to me gaming on PC is all about customization, user choice and not getting locked down or restricted. Its the essence of PC gaming IMO.I fully agree with you - but this is something others seem to agree upon in each thread,
I see but to me gaming on PC is all about customization, user choice and not getting locked down or restricted. Its the essence of PC gaming IMO.
Steam didn't get to where they are today overnight as they started in a very rough state back in 2004, it's been a long process with ups and downs. A great service today, yes, but playing on PC has always been about having options rather than being locked into one platform (like Nintendo, Playstation, and Xbox are). Do the other storefronts/game launchers need to improve and add features? Absolutely.
Developers/publishers are allowed to do whatever they wish, if that's to create their own store app to sell their product (and others as well) and their own game launcher then so be it.
I wouldn't buy a new car brand today which only had the features of a car released in 2000 out of deference to the difficulty in building a new car. I'm not against a new company coming forward to offer a better way to play PC games. To some extent, Microsoft has done this with Game Pass on PC. I'm even excited about Stadia as a solution for PC gaming.
Epic makes the best Rapid Development Tool in the world. They're barely trying to make EGS something worth using. They never should've released it.
Imagine if we held any other industry to the excuses given by Epic at how they cannot implement basic features.
A new car company says they cant have air-conditioning in their cars because it took a long time from the first cars to have air conditioning and they are still working on it themselves.
Or "X company has had a decade headstart, thats why our new car doesn't have anti-lock breaks"
They would get laughed off the face of the planet. And Epic isn't making hardware or anything physical here.
Literally the thing people were saying from day one that others didn't believe is "competition is good". There are no moved goalposts.I appreciate how the goalposts have moved from "Epic is going to take over the game store space due to Valve's complacency" to "Well Epic is responsible for all the advancements Steam's made recently so yay".
from what i can tell they're helping non-steam launchers, they only pay for games to not release on steam and people who don't want to use EGS just go elsewhere. uplay is probably the biggest beneficiary of everything epic has done.EGS is more likely canabalizing the other players on the market, GOG, Origin, etc.
Really enjoying my free games on EGS and my two single purchases (Borderlands 3 and Untitled Goose Game).
If Epic wants to continue paying devs and giving away games, I'm all for it. It has certainly improved PC gaming for me and the only one who has been "hurt" is whoever gamer remains exclusive to a single storefront, which is really silly.
seems like you get *hurt* by reading threads because you clearly haven't read this one despite diving in with your very original take
Not just Steam. Seems their exclusivity deals also exclude GOG.from what i can tell they're helping non-steam launchers, they only pay for games to not release on steam and people who don't want to use EGS just go elsewhere. uplay is probably the biggest beneficiary of everything epic has done.
They didn't say that though? You're being dismissive and saying everyone not wanting to use Epic is limiting themselves to just Steam and ignoring every valid issue people have with the platform.
yeah, totally a post worth bumping the thread overReally enjoying my free games on EGS and my two single purchases (Borderlands 3 and Untitled Goose Game).
If Epic wants to continue paying devs and giving away games, I'm all for it. It has certainly improved PC gaming for me and the only one who has been "hurt" is whoever gamer remains exclusive to a single storefront, which is really silly.
Really enjoying my free games on EGS and my two single purchases (Borderlands 3 and Untitled Goose Game).
If Epic wants to continue paying devs and giving away games, I'm all for it. It has certainly improved PC gaming for me and the only one who has been "hurt" is whoever gamer remains exclusive to a single storefront, which is really silly.
This shit reads like a Tim Sweeney tweet.
totally worth the bump.
I think EGS definitely shook up the market a bit and pushed valve to accelerate some of its plans, and possibly do more, but I think their impact is not as massive as some are making it up to be.
So does EGS push Valve to do better? Yes for sure, but nothing crazy. in the ends it's us, the consumers. who are the winners.
Is this a gotcha? Because to me free shit is free shit and I won't hesitate to take advantage of it. Nothing more than that.
That still doesn't mean EGS has been a positive influence on PC gaming.
literally just falseYeah, for consumers so far the only impact is the free games, but the store still needs work
literally just false
another impact is the reduction of choice in where to purchase several games
I find it strange that while shitting on Epic you are praising Game Pass, which is far more restrictive than Epic Store. You're even referring to a feature (Steam in-home streaming) that cannot be used on Game Pass games because of MS Store's extreme restrictions on the game files and executables. Meanwhile, you can use that feature on Epic Store games because almost all of them will add to Steam as non-Steam games with no issue.What exactly has been improved with EGS? I now have games that have been exclusively released on a platform that is barely funtional missing many features. I use in-home streaming all the time for example, why the fuck is it necessary that I can't use that for those games?
Thankfully Microsoft gets it, releasing their games on multiple platforms giving users the choice. They want to make sure people have a choice, but they are also offering an amazing service of their own. Giving an active choice to users. And I'm sure their own platform is by far more succesfull, because they're actually working on providing a good service. But seriously: Screw that exclusivity. Give me a fucking choice as a consumer.
And I also don't really believe EGS is succesfull at all, games released on it I barely hear. And sales numbers are never ever exposed. I think Steam's real threat and competition comes from Game pass. EGS is more likely canabalizing the other players on the market, GOG, Origin, etc.
If Epic had led with free games and not exclusivity agreements, no one would be complaining.Really enjoying my free games on EGS and my two single purchases (Borderlands 3 and Untitled Goose Game).
If Epic wants to continue paying devs and giving away games, I'm all for it. It has certainly improved PC gaming for me and the only one who has been "hurt" is whoever gamer remains exclusive to a single storefront, which is really silly.
I find it strange that while shitting on Epic you are praising Game Pass, which is far more restrictive than Epic Store. You're even referring to a feature (Steam in-home streaming) that cannot be used on Game Pass games because of MS Store's extreme restrictions on the game files and executables. Meanwhile, you can use that feature on Epic Store games because almost all of them will add to Steam as non-Steam games with no issue.
I'm ok with game pass, not because of the services. But because the game's released on it are also released on Steam. And in the future on other platforms.I find it strange that while shitting on Epic you are praising Game Pass, which is far more restrictive than Epic Store. You're even referring to a feature (Steam in-home streaming) that cannot be used on Game Pass games because of MS Store's extreme restrictions on the game files and executables. Meanwhile, you can use that feature on Epic Store games because almost all of them will add to Steam as non-Steam games with no issue.
yeaI am enjoying the free games from EGS (when i can have them due to store bugs) but i am not forgetting Epic is owned by someone i can easily identify as an asshole.
And assholes do not get my money.
This is too much of a black and white statement, and frankly isn't true. I have used plenty of Game Pass games with Steam In-Home Streaming. I have also had a giant ballache getting certain EGS games to work with Steam In-Home Streaming. The only store/client I've consistantly had no issues adding games to Steam with is GOG, because it is DRM-free. All the other stores/clients can cause major issues that require community workarounds.You're even referring to a feature (Steam in-home streaming) that cannot be used on Game Pass games because of MS Store's extreme restrictions on the game files and executables. Meanwhile, you can use that feature on Epic Store games because almost all of them will add to Steam as non-Steam games with no issue.
I find it strange that while shitting on Epic you are praising Game Pass, which is far more restrictive than Epic Store. You're even referring to a feature (Steam in-home streaming) that cannot be used on Game Pass games because of MS Store's extreme restrictions on the game files and executables. Meanwhile, you can use that feature on Epic Store games because almost all of them will add to Steam as non-Steam games with no issue.
The game EXEs cannot be added directly because Microsoft has implemented their UWP restrictions. I used UWPHook to add them as non-Steam games, but then the next issue is that games don't take controller input. So the game does stream but does not take any input.This is too much of a black and white statement, and frankly isn't true. I have used plenty of Game Pass games with Steam In-Home Streaming. I have also had a giant ballache getting certain EGS games to work with Steam In-Home Streaming. The only store/client I've consistantly had no issues adding games to Steam with is GOG, because it is DRM-free. All the other stores/clients can cause major issues that require community workarounds.