Epic Games Store now open!

Cosmic Schwung · 29 Jan 2019 at 12:39

Oh FFS, the discounted price is US only. There are a few features on steam I make use of and would miss on epic like cloud saves, controller compatibility, family sharing, but I wouldn't give a monkey's if the games were actually cheaper. Why is this concept so hard for them to grasp? So long as the launcher isn't a dumpster fire punters will flock to wherever can offer the best prices. Rather than throwing money at a few publishers for exclusivity they should be using it to make the games cheaper for everyone. That'll make me start using their store, not locking down a few games for a year.

atomic7431 · 29 Jan 2019 at 13:38

Cloud saves are coming to the store - https://gadgets.ndtv.com/games/news/epic-games-store-to-get-cloud-saves-by-february-1977474

coming to the Epic Games Store by February with achievements showing up by the end of the year

AHarvey · 29 Jan 2019 at 18:02

Cosmic Schwung said:
Oh FFS, the discounted price is US only. There are a few features on steam I make use of and would miss on epic like cloud saves, controller compatibility, family sharing, but I wouldn't give a monkey's if the games were actually cheaper. Why is this concept so hard for them to grasp? So long as the launcher isn't a dumpster fire punters will flock to wherever can offer the best prices. Rather than throwing money at a few publishers for exclusivity they should be using it to make the games cheaper for everyone. That'll make me start using their store, not locking down a few games for a year.

You've got to remember the age of each platform, Steam has had years to build and tweak, Epic is playing catchup but it looks like they are really going all out. The busier it gets, the more cheaper offers you will see and the more features. I think it's good for what is a comparatively new platform

Kainz · 30 Jan 2019 at 10:25

AHarvey said:
You've got to remember the age of each platform, Steam has had years to build and tweak, Epic is playing catchup but it looks like they are really going all out. The busier it gets, the more cheaper offers you will see and the more features. I think it's good for what is a comparatively new platform

A lot of folks are forgetting this. Steam was an absolute pile of kangaroo dung for it's first few years. Granted it was doing something original back then compared to Epic now but the point still remains that it'll evolve over time providing Epic remain committed to it. As it stands right now Steam is just as bad as iTunes - it looks crap, performs crap, the new chat is crap (the window STILL appears in the centre of the screen) and the store itself is just an absolute mess, all thanks to Valve sitting there and not acknowleding the fact that is really needs a overhaul.

Cosmic Schwung · 30 Jan 2019 at 12:32

AHarvey said:
You've got to remember the age of each platform, Steam has had years to build and tweak, Epic is playing catchup but it looks like they are really going all out. The busier it gets, the more cheaper offers you will see and the more features. I think it's good for what is a comparatively new platform

I don't think most people will give them the benefit of the doubt for a while just because they're new, they're going to compare it to its competitors now. They can't wait for the store to get busier before they improve things, they need a compelling reason for people to return now, and better prices would do that. We got a glimpse of it with Metro but instead they managed to make it feel like they gave everyone outside the US a kick in the nads.

I totally agree they can't possibly have most of steam's features in place yet, but at the very least they should have had better regional pricing from the get-go. Various regions now have to pay more for Metro than they did on steam, and China can't buy anything at all from Epic's store and that's become one of steam's biggest markets. Considering how much money they have to throw at this it's baffling they decided to go ahead and alienate a huge number of potential customers. Hopefully they'll have that sorted out soon because they're leaving a lot on the table until it's fixed.

iv-tecman · 30 Jan 2019 at 13:07

Cosmic Schwung said:
I don't think most people will give them the benefit of the doubt for a while just because they're new, they're going to compare it to its competitors now. They can't wait for the store to get busier before they improve things, they need a compelling reason for people to return now, and better prices would do that. We got a glimpse of it with Metro but instead they managed to make it feel like they gave everyone outside the US a kick in the nads.

I totally agree they can't possibly have most of steam's features in place yet, but at the very least they should have had better regional pricing from the get-go. Various regions now have to pay more for Metro than they did on steam, and China can't buy anything at all from Epic's store and that's become one of steam's biggest markets. Considering how much money they have to throw at this it's baffling they decided to go ahead and alienate a huge number of potential customers. Hopefully they'll have that sorted out soon because they're leaving a lot on the table until it's fixed.

Much as its painful to admit, Steam was as you said a right mess on launch, the new delivery method for Half Life 2 - only reason I installed Steam was to launch and run half life 2, which I purchased on Disc at the time.... I don't think I actually purchased a game directly from Steam store until around 2012, and since then I've purchased all my keys from cdkeys.com, so long as I can get keys from cdkeys and they offer some sorta of cloud save - I personally don't care which platform I run the game...

Guess I'm not that fussed.

Cosmic Schwung · 31 Jan 2019 at 08:58

Welp, looks like they've got some decent regional pricing in place now. Fair play to them, that's my biggest issue with the store sorted out.

chrcoluk · 31 Jan 2019 at 18:19

to give an example of what I think is a good move from epic and thats the free games, I got no issue with that as a competitive incentive.

But the exclusives they keep announcing im not on board with.

As I Said before, these smaller cut epic takes, should mean these games could release on steam "and" epic and should be cheaper on epic to reflect that, but I expect the games would simply still be the same price.

chrcoluk · 31 Jan 2019 at 18:23

Bishie said:
Absolutely spot on!

Source

couldnt agree more. Its refreshing to see that come from a journalist, instead of the others patting epic on the back as if exclusivity is a good thing for consumers.

AHarvey · 31 Jan 2019 at 18:25

Cosmic Schwung said:
Welp, looks like they've got some decent regional pricing in place now. Fair play to them, that's my biggest issue with the store sorted out.

That's good, it shows they are constantly working on it but it's not something I'd noticed.

Are they still excluding China? Wonder if that's political restrictions or technical restrictions. As you say, massive market and that's a lot more server resources needed.

chrcoluk · 31 Jan 2019 at 18:37

Cosmic Schwung said:
Oh FFS, the discounted price is US only. There are a few features on steam I make use of and would miss on epic like cloud saves, controller compatibility, family sharing, but I wouldn't give a monkey's if the games were actually cheaper. Why is this concept so hard for them to grasp? So long as the launcher isn't a dumpster fire punters will flock to wherever can offer the best prices. Rather than throwing money at a few publishers for exclusivity they should be using it to make the games cheaper for everyone. That'll make me start using their store, not locking down a few games for a year.

Yeah epic doesnt seem so godly now does it? their store/launcher is poor functionality wise, they should be working on that instead of bribing people to only use their platform.

Also there is people reporting the price jumped from 40 euros on steam to 60 euros on epic. where is this 18% cut saving going exactly?

mark43 · 31 Jan 2019 at 20:42

Personally I'm okay with their launcher. Nice and lightweight, if I have to have multiple launchers then that's what I want really. Just the whole exclusivity thing I have issues with.

Cosmic Schwung · 31 Jan 2019 at 23:33

AHarvey said:
That's good, it shows they are constantly working on it but it's not something I'd noticed.

Are they still excluding China? Wonder if that's political restrictions or technical restrictions. As you say, massive market and that's a lot more server resources needed.

Apparently steam uses some loophole to get access to the Chinese market, but they're partnering up with a company out there to make it official. Given Epic's relationship with Tencent you'd figure they'd already have something in place, but I'm sure they're putting a lot of effort into getting it worked out. It's just too many potential customers to ignore. In the meantime Chinese gamers wanting any of those exclusives are out of luck, or they'll just pirate.

Paul_cz · 1 Feb 2019 at 07:23

AHarvey said:
You've got to remember the age of each platform, Steam has had years to build and tweak, Epic is playing catchup but it looks like they are really going all out. The busier it gets, the more cheaper offers you will see and the more features. I think it's good for what is a comparatively new platform

Kainz said:
A lot of folks are forgetting this. Steam was an absolute pile of kangaroo dung for it's first few years. Granted it was doing something original back then compared to Epic now but the point still remains that it'll evolve over time providing Epic remain committed to it. As it stands right now Steam is just as bad as iTunes - it looks crap, performs crap, the new chat is crap (the window STILL appears in the centre of the screen) and the store itself is just an absolute mess, all thanks to Valve sitting there and not acknowleding the fact that is really needs a overhaul.

Nobody is forgetting this. It is the opposite, people are realizing that Epic competes with Steam 2019, not Steam 2004. This excuse that "they are just starting out" is just that, an excuse. You wouldn't excuse a new car maker that would make car at Ford-T level because "they are just starting out".

Paul_cz · 1 Feb 2019 at 07:48

If you buy games on GOG, you support Cyberpunk 2077's development and DRM-free initiative

If you buy games on Steam, you support steam's development and Gabe's knife collection

If you buy games on Epic, you support Unreal 4's development and chinese government's organ harvest collection

Bishie · 1 Feb 2019 at 15:01

Here is why Epic Games Launcher is better than Steam by Omni

chrcoluk · 1 Feb 2019 at 15:04

Bishie said:
Here is why Epic Games Launcher is better than Steam by Omni

Brilliant

Feature-wise, yes, Steam might have some (tiny) advantages. But it’s nothing important really. Epic Games Launcher is only missing a few things like cloud saves, user profiles, user reviews, friend activity, forums, mod distribution, groups, item trading, library sorting, account sharing, streaming to other devices, broadcasting, screenshot capture/sharing, controller support, user-created guides, wish lists, automatic refunds, achievements, anti-cheat support, 3rd party keys, etc.

ltron · 1 Feb 2019 at 15:04

Cosmic Schwung said:
Welp, looks like they've got some decent regional pricing in place now. Fair play to them, that's my biggest issue with the store sorted out.

It's still £50 as far as I can see.

ltron · 1 Feb 2019 at 15:05

chrcoluk said:
Yeah epic doesnt seem so godly now does it? their store/launcher is poor functionality wise, they should be working on that instead of bribing people to only use their platform.

Also there is people reporting the price jumped from 40 euros on steam to 60 euros on epic. where is this 18% cut saving going exactly?

Into the publisher's pockets.

AHarvey · 1 Feb 2019 at 15:13

Paul_cz said:
Nobody is forgetting this. It is the opposite, people are realizing that Epic competes with Steam 2019, not Steam 2004. This excuse that "they are just starting out" is just that, an excuse. You wouldn't excuse a new car maker that would make car at Ford-T level because "they are just starting out".

Using your analogy, which is quite frankly stupid. Epic is currently more of a KIA to Steams VW/BMW/MERC, it's lacking some of the build quality and refinements but the basics are there and it is getting better with each release.

I don't believe anyone's said it's actually competing with Steam 2004, I know I certainly didn't. What people are saying is that it takes time, lessons learnt and adaptability to get to the level that Steam currently is. Steam wasn't steam 2019 in 2004 either so to suggest Epic should come straight in at the top is mind-boggling and shows a complete lack of understanding about product development.