tyfon

Member
Nov 2, 2017
3,680
Norway
This image is misleading at best, after MW2 the sales of cod on PC plummeted, even so that BO1 had and used on the little market that the PC version had, the fact that it had dedicated servers, but the sales of cod on PC never recovered.

I know I didn't buy it at least and I never bought a COD again after this so some of us managed to keep to the principle. But a lot of people does not which is why companies still pull this shit.

I didn't post it in defence of what epic is doing but more of a resignation to the fact that I have been in (and lost) many such battles before including the famous horse armour. We certainly didn't stop micro transactions back then at least.
 

Durante

Dark Souls Man
Member
Oct 24, 2017
5,074
Epic is not creating a monopoly of any kind, in any way.
Actually, yes, that is exactly what they are actively doing. They are creating a distribution monopoly for the titles for which they pay for exclusivity agreements.

That's what exclusive distribution is.

just because people are frustrated by temporary inconvenience
Yeah, no.
In fact, when I don't want Epic to succeed, it's exactly because of long-term strategic thinking regarding the quality and health of the PC platform for gamers -- and the "temporary inconvenience" is not playing Epic store exclusives.

If the Epic strategy succeeds it opens the door for a development of the PC marketplace in a direction which is ultimately worse for gamers, enthusiasts, and -- I'll happily argue in more depth -- even most mid-sized and indie developers.
 

Greatest Ever

Banned
Aug 25, 2018
609
Actually, yes, that is exactly what they are actively doing. They are creating a distribution monopoly for the titles for which they pay for exclusivity agreements.

That's what exclusive distribution is.


Yeah, no.
In fact, when I don't want Epic to succeed, it's exactly because of long-term strategic thinking regarding the quality and health of the PC platform for gamers -- and the "temporary inconvenience" is not playing Epic store exclusives.

If the Epic strategy succeeds it opens the door for a development of the PC marketplace in a direction which is ultimately worse for gamers, enthusiasts, and -- I'll happily argue in more depth -- even most mid-sized and indie developers.
Please do argue more in depth, I disagree with you but I enjoy hearing your side of it.
 
Oct 25, 2017
1,713
Humor me, and explain to us how restricting a product to a single store has anything to do with healthy competition?

Because Epic Games and Valve are competing in the space of being a games store, and one way for a game store to differentiate itself is by selling different games. If one grocery store sold your favorite cereal and another one didn't, would the Cereal Eaters Rise Up and be collectively angry at Hypothetical Grocery Store #2? No! Because we seem to implicitly understand that two stores in the same business might not necessarily sell exactly the same products... until it becomes about video games, apparently.
 

Durante

Dark Souls Man
Member
Oct 24, 2017
5,074
It's kinda amazing that you start the text in a neutral way with some facts (well, some are wrong like cheaper hosting at EGS) but in general you were trying to be objective. Then you start with the idea that the EGS would help all devs while it is heavily curated and less than 5% will ever have a chance to appear there. Then you switch to how EPIC is trying to build a more positive relation with consumers while it clearly tries to cut most of the ties to consumers and you end up in a full on fanboy war vs Steam, Valve, Gabe and all those dumb Steam users that spread fake news (which aren't [mostly] fake btw).

Kinda ironic and amazing.
Well said.
 

ShinUltramanJ

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,950
That doesn't sound much different from Sony in the mid 90s or Microsoft in the early 00s. Both were largely non-gaming tech giants who invested their way into the console market.

Epic's being compared to a non gaming tech giant just breaking into the scene?

If you're saying they're using console war tactics then yes. If you're trying to excuse them as some fresh faced company then you couldn't be more wrong.
 

Ge0force

Self-requested ban.
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
5,265
Belgium
No, I said Epic is offering a better deal because they want to make money and they think that will make them more money.

Dude, I literally quoted from your post...

You also wrote this:

People try to paint Epic as villainous for buying temporary exclusivity for a few games, but if you look at the bigger picture, it makes plenty of sense why they're doing it and how they're trying to create a more positive relationship between developers, distributors, and consumers.

Even if we ignore the toxic reactions from the consumers towards Epic, Deep Silver and 4A when the Metro Exodus exclusivity deal was announced, you really need to explain to me how these exclusivity deals are resulting in a more positive relationship between developers, distributors, and consumers. Because in my opinion, Epic's moneyhats go straight against this.

Don't get me wrong: I don't mind other stores, in fact I think we need them to get healthy competition. I also think Epic and Discord offering a lower cut than Steam is good for the industry. But I don't agree that paying devs to keep the most promising games away from competing storefronts is acceptable, let alone good for healthy competition. I also strongly disagree with some other points on Epic's list, like making user reviews opt-in, influencer bribing, no discovery algorithms, payment costs etc.
 

fspm

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,086
What Epic Games has decided is that everyone deserves a better deal. Smaller cuts for hosting, bigger cuts for developers, and in some cases, like Metro, lower prices for at least one market.
For everyone, what's the better deal for consumer? Store that lets you pay transaction fees? Such a nice feature, I'll let you pay for my rent then.
 

Deleted member 3897

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
9,638
2sotbc.jpg
 

Deleted member 15395

Unshakable Resolve
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,145
Epic is in the perfect position to offer more. Sadly they chose moneyhatting instead.

I agree they could've absolutely gone that route, but I'm not convinced that would've been enough to have the millions of users steam has migrate over. As I said before, they have a benevolent monopoly on distribution, people are generally comfortable with steam and more importantly used to it.

Epic's strategy is aggressive because, I think, that's the only way to really make a dent on steams marketshare. Whether that's good or bad is yet to be seen.
 

fiendcode

Member
Oct 26, 2017
25,026
Epic's being compared to a non gaming tech giant just breaking into the scene?

If you're saying they're using console war tactics then yes. If you're trying to excuse them as some fresh faced company then you couldn't be more wrong.
Their primary business (before Fortnite at least) was engine/middleware/tools. I'm not excusing anything though, I just remember the same sort of criticism directed at Sony and Microsoft. All 3 are seen as buying their way into the industry by some.
 

Ge0force

Self-requested ban.
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
5,265
Belgium
Because Epic Games and Valve are competing in the space of being a games store, and one way for a game store to differentiate itself is by selling different games.

And how exactly does that benefits us? How are we as consumers getting better by having to visit two different stores, instead of being able to buy both products in the same store, if these stores aren't competing with better prices, features and policies?


Epic's strategy is aggressive because, I think, that's the only way to really make a dent on steams marketshare.

Exclusives may force people into using another store than the one they prefer. But as long as this store isn't actually BETTER than the one they are already using, people won't switch to another stores for anything but exclusives. The Windows Store, Discord Store, uPlay and Origin have tried to get pc gamers in their store using exclusives, but no one is using these stores for anything they can get on Steam or GoG.
 

Durante

Dark Souls Man
Member
Oct 24, 2017
5,074
Because Epic Games and Valve are competing in the space of being a games store, and one way for a game store to differentiate itself is by selling different games.
That single sentence presupposes ideas that misrepresent the whole discussion.
  • "Because Epic Games and Valve are competing in the space of being a games store" -- this implies that it's only about the store, when in actuality it's about software platforms (which are, regardless of what this forum thinks, actually far more important than hardware platforms at this point. E.g. PS4 and XB1 are distinguished far more by the software they run than their hardware). In fact, as Steam shows well, a software platform is completely divorced from a "store", given that products running on that software platform can and are being sold on dozens of stores and distribution channels.
  • "one way for a game store to differentiate itself is by selling different games" -- yes, but there are tons of ways for a software platform to differentiate itself from another software platform.
Basically, the whole issue is that Epic is trying to use EGS -- a store -- to compete with Steam, which is now a software and community platform with a plethora of distribution channels.
And many people are rightfully unhappy about that, because they appreciate the software platform aspects and/or community aspects and/or various distribution methods they get with Steam and don't get with EGS.
 

blacklotus

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
2,047
There goes again its just another launcher thing

If you dont understand is because you either didnt read anything about all of this or you are basically trolling

I honestly don't understand it. Can you please explain it to me? It didn't feel like this when Ea's and Ubisoft's launched their own plataform.
 

Fanta

Member
May 27, 2018
508
I think a point that goes over peoples head a lot is that Epic payed to remove a game from a store that already had it up for pre-order for multiple months.

Like there's a difference between launching a game exclusively on a platform from the beginning and paying to have games removed from other storefronts.
 

Deleted member 35618

Dec 7, 2017
2,506
Because Epic Games and Valve are competing in the space of being a games store, and one way for a game store to differentiate itself is by selling different games. If one grocery store sold your favorite cereal and another one didn't, would the Cereal Eaters Rise Up and be collectively angry at Hypothetical Grocery Store #2? No! Because we seem to implicitly understand that two stores in the same business might not necessarily sell exactly the same products... until it becomes about video games, apparently.

Gaming is somehow special and can NEVER be touched by the mechanisms of capitalism. /s
 

Budi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,910
Finland
It's kinda amazing that you start the text in a neutral way with some facts (well, some are wrong like cheaper hosting at EGS) but in general you were trying to be objective. Then you start with the idea that the EGS would help all devs while it is heavily curated and less than 5% will ever have a chance to appear there. Then you switch to how EPIC is trying to build a more positive relation with consumers while it clearly tries to cut most of the ties to consumers and you end up in a full on fanboy war vs Steam, Valve, Gabe and all those dumb Steam users that spread fake news (which aren't [mostly] fake btw).

Kinda ironic and amazing.
My favorite bit was trying to spin the EGS prices as a positive "lower price in one region!". Yeah while almost everyone else got actually fucked with the prices increasing and in reality Metro was available for cheaper even in the US through Razer game store (which is going down though). Next level spin, gotta give them that.
 

JD3Nine

The Fallen
Nov 6, 2017
1,866
Texas, United States
I think a point that goes over peoples head a lot is that Epic payed to remove a game from a store that already had it up for pre-order for multiple months.

Like there's a difference between launching a game exclusively on a platform from the beginning and paying to have games removed from other storefronts.
PC players are supposed to be cool with this apparently. Haha. Gotta fight that monopoly at all costs. Competition, am I right?
 

water_wendi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,354
I honestly don't understand it. Can you please explain it to me? It didn't feel like this when Ea's and Ubisoft's launched their own plataform.
If you go back and look at posts at the time for each of these platform launches many of the same arguments are being made.

I think a point that goes over peoples head a lot is that Epic payed to remove a game from a store that already had it up for pre-order for multiple months.

Like there's a difference between launching a game exclusively on a platform from the beginning and paying to have games removed from other storefronts.
And those that pre-ordered Metro on Steam still received the game on Steam.
 

Durante

Dark Souls Man
Member
Oct 24, 2017
5,074
It didn't feel like this when Ea's and Ubisoft's launched their own plataform.
EA and Ubisoft did not actively pay multiple third parties to remove their games from Steam.

You're welcome.

(Also, and I never thought I'd say this, but Origin and especially Uplay are actually decent platforms compared to EGS)

Gaming is somehow special and can NEVER be touched by the mechanisms of capitalism. /s
"It's capitalism!!" is not a defense of an action or an argument for why anyone should support it. No one complains that Epic's actions are anti-capitalistic.

How does one create a monopoly via timed exclusives?
You create a monopoly on distribution for the given time period. Seriously, that's the entire point.
 

Ge0force

Self-requested ban.
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
5,265
Belgium
I honestly don't understand it. Can you please explain it to me? It didn't feel like this when Ea's and Ubisoft's launched their own plataform.

EA or Ubisoft have never paid 3rd party devs or publishers to pull their games away from Steam like two weeks before the release.

My favorite bit was trying to spin the EGS prices as a positive "lower price in one region!". Yeah while almost everyone else got actually fucked with the prices increasing and in reality Metro was available for cheaper even in the US through Razer game store (which is going down though). Next level spin, gotta give them that.

And even that argument is false. Before Epic's moneyhat, Metro Exodus was sold at $34.99 at several keysellers. That's still a lot cheaper than $49.99 in Epic's Store.
 

Budi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,910
Finland
EA or Ubisoft have never paid 3rd party devs or publishers to pull their games away from Steam like two weeks before the release.
Not just steam though, games have been pulled everywhere. Like The Walking Dead from GOG too. And then there's the legit key retailers of course which are greatly affected without Steam keys to sell.
 

blacklotus

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
2,047
Maybe instead of shitposting you could have read the thread but anyways you are trolling

I'm not shit posting. I'm not being aggressive like you are. I'm genuinely intrigued by this.

I'm probably naive or whatever but I can't find a single way the presence of Epic's store and the way they got Metro exclusivity, impacts me negatively, as a consumer.

But I guess you can't be arsed to have a civil conversation about this so. Anyway, it's your prerogative and your right so, no worries.
 

eonden

Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,174
I mean, a big issue of EGS is that it launched (and continues to be) in a deplorable state. It launched in a worse state than Steam did more than 10 years ago.
It should have launched in a similar state to Origin did, but instead we have a store that even 3 months after launch still doesnt have an build-in search function (you can use ctrl+f, but that is a shit way of searching through a shop).
 

tuxfool

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,858
Report for what? An accurate description of reality?
That isn't. People have explained their issues.

People get banned in technical threads for shitposts of things like "works for me", clearly the point in to dismiss the concerns of people that have taken the time to discuss their problems.

That shit doesn't add anything to the discussion, just noise at this point.
 

Deleted member 35618

Dec 7, 2017
2,506
EA and Ubisoft did not actively pay multiple third parties to remove their games from Steam.

You're welcome.

(Also, and I never thought I'd say this, but Origin and especially Uplay are actually decent platforms compared to EGS)


"It's capitalism!!" is not a defense of an action or an argument for why anyone should support it. No one complains that Epic's actions are anti-capitalistic.

Yes, but for some reason, EPIC is being demonized for doing what literally every gaming business is trying to do, compete and gain market share. It's amazing what Steam has gotten away with for so long, being the sole entity in the PC marketplace. But because everyone likes Steam, it's OK not to have competition. Which just mindboggling on so many levels.
 

z1ggy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,248
Argentina
I'm not shit posting. I'm not being aggressive like you are. I'm genuinely intrigued by this.

I'm probably naive or whatever but I can't find a single way the presence of Epic's store and the way they got Metro exclusivity, impacts me negatively, as a consumer.

But I guess you can't be arsed to have a civil conversation about this so. Anyway, it's your prerogative and your right so, no worries.
You are intrigued but you choose to ignore the thread, weird
 
Oct 25, 2017
1,713
I'm not shit posting. I'm not being aggressive like you are. I'm genuinely intrigued by this.

I'm probably naive or whatever but I can't find a single way the presence of Epic's store and the way they got Metro exclusivity, impacts me negatively, as a consumer.

But I guess you can't be arsed to have a civil conversation about this so. Anyway, it's your prerogative and your right so, no worries.
I've been going in circles with these people for like 12 hours. best just to not engage because they will eat you alive to defend valve. this will be my last post on this topic
 

Airbar

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,569
I'm not shit posting. I'm not being aggressive like you are. I'm genuinely intrigued by this.

I'm probably naive or whatever but I can't find a single way the presence of Epic's store and the way they got Metro exclusivity, impacts me negatively, as a consumer.

But I guess you can't be arsed to have a civil conversation about this so. Anyway, it's your prerogative and your right so, no worries.
lol seriously consider leaving EGS threads alone in the future. You can keep your "got mine, fuck you" attitude.
It may not impact you but I can not play the game as long as it is exclusive to the EGS!
 

JD3Nine

The Fallen
Nov 6, 2017
1,866
Texas, United States
Yes, but for some reason, EPIC is being demonized for doing what literally every gaming business is trying to do, compete and gain market share. It's amazing what Steam has gotten away with for so long, being the sole entity in the PC marketplace. But because everyone likes Steam, it's OK not to have competition. Which just mindboggling on so many levels.
What exactly has Steam gotten away with?

Edit: Nevermind. I just saw that you only post in Epic store threads. Already know what you are going to say. Not worth it.