Epic Games Store now open!

[mark43]

To be fair I'm not sure uplay were ever trying to topple steam, just to use it as a platform for their own games.

Though they've gone exclusive with epic on Anno 1800, so the ability to buy from various legit key sites mentioned above is no longer an option there.

 

[Tombstone]

To be fair I'm not sure uplay were ever trying to topple steam, just to use it as a platform for their own games.

Though they've gone exclusive with epic on Anno 1800, so the ability to buy from various legit key sites mentioned above is no longer an option there.

Technically not "exclusive" to Epic though, despite the media sites throwing around the word exclusive.

Maybe not legit key sites but you will still be able to pick it up from key sites like cdkeys, which is how I got my epic key for Metro Exodus, though its more likely that the key sites would simply have the uplay key instead of epic , although with the uplay 20% discount you may as well get all uplay titles direct from uplay anyway, works out similar in price.

 

[mark43]

Technically not "exclusive" to Epic though, despite the media sites throwing around the word exclusive.

Maybe not legit key sites but you will still be able to pick it up from key sites like cdkeys, which is how I got my epic key for Metro Exodus, though its more likely that the key sites would simply have the uplay key instead of epic , although with the uplay 20% discount you may as well get all uplay titles direct from uplay anyway, works out similar in price.

Yeah that's true, though cdkeys jacked up the price as soon as the exclusivity kicked in, so it's still affected pricing. The uplay discount is good, but not everyone has the necessary 100 coins, especially now they expire.

 

[Tombstone]

Yeah that's true, though cdkeys jacked up the price as soon as the exclusivity kicked in, so it's still affected pricing. The uplay discount is good, but not everyone has the necessary 100 coins, especially now they expire.

At least the 100 coins are quick to get, you even get 40 coins for buying a standard edition of something so thats almost half the 100 back straight away, do some of the ingame achievements in any uplay game and you very quickly get the other 60 points to give you the 100 for the next title.

 

[iv-tecman]

Yeah that's true, though cdkeys jacked up the price as soon as the exclusivity kicked in, so it's still affected pricing. The uplay discount is good, but not everyone has the necessary 100 coins, especially now they expire.

I've always tried to get uplay games on sale via Steam if possible, so I have all games in one location, but since EA split off and created Origin, and then Uplay, then MS Store popped up for Play Anywhere titles, its just not possible anymore, so I redeemed all my points 420 of them on uplay for 20% vouchers and just went and got a load of uplay games, its not like the games don't need uplay, they do, even if on steam...

It was nice to have Steam at first for all titles, but I've just had to accept its just never gonna be one store for ALL games.

Moving on, Epic has not provided IMO any sort of cost saving to the consumer. It appears Publishers are attracted to Epic for lack of refunds, lack of community reviews and the bigger cut they receive from each copy sold on Epic. Epic store provides no consumer protection, incentive or anything for the consumer

I'd buy from Steam for their community and xinput support for ALL input devices
MS Store for MS rewards
Uplay for their 20% discount scheme
EA offers EA Access which at £19.99 a year is a great deal

All of these stores also offer achievements and incentives, Epic offers next to nothing. The Epic store still has no shopping cart, the most basic of features for a store I'd have to say.

Sad times, but no, won't buy a single game from Epic for the time being.

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

Probably seems like a minor thing to some, but what annoys me most about the EPIC launcher is that they don't have a way to set a limit for download speeds.

I don't have the fastest connection so it doesn't take much to max it out. EPIC updates go full speed until they're done so I can't watch Twitch/YouTube or play any online games. even browsing the web can be annoying when all your bandwidth is being used up. I'd rather it takes twice as long to download but allows me to use my internet connection for the duration.
Steam has a bandwidth limiter.
Origin has a bandwidth limiter.
UPlay has a bandwidth limiter.
But not EPIC.

Now I know with all the feature EPIC is missing you could argue it's early days, but they're releasing into a market with existing competing products. I feel they need to be pretty competitive from day 1. They can see what others have done and what works. Fortnite shows that they're not afraid to steal ideas from similar products.

 

[uncle_rufus]

I think these are key points of your message. UPlay have attempted to gain market share by using a strategy of deals which are exclusive to their store (as opposed to full exclusivity), but as a result it hasn't been very successful.

Therefore, why would Epic try to follow a strategy which has been proved to fail on other stores? They are trying something different instead.

They're not trying something different, they're not trying anything at all is my point... it's the "why should we bother trying to do anything to improve upon or differentiate ourselves or try to provide a better experience when we can just throw our money around and force people to use our platform (if they want access to certain titles)"... The fact that they can afford to do so makes it doubly disappointing that they are seemingly choosing to do and offer nothing...

Imagine if Epic just struck as many deals as they could to get games on their store (non-exclusively) and then put up an exclusive deal (which they subsidise with all that cash)... "Buy ANY 3 games on Epic Store and you'll get the cheapest one FREE!" or how about coming up with a new concept (something that would be possible using their fat stacks)... "Epic store will allow you to TRADE IN your finished games for credit against new titles"... I'm not pretending to understand all of the logistics and legalities of doing things like this but I feel like deep enough pockets as they seem to have would open doors. Combine that with a team who can actually make a slicker, nicer interface and storefront than Steam has (which let's face it wouldn't be that hard) and there's your "Steam-killer"

 

[ic1male]

Heads up that Transistor is now free to download. Next game up, on May 2, is World of Goo. Must be running out of money now...

 

[ZombieFan]

They're not trying something different, they're not trying anything at all is my point... it's the "why should we bother trying to do anything to improve upon or differentiate ourselves or try to provide a better experience when we can just throw our money around and force people to use our platform (if they want access to certain titles)"... The fact that they can afford to do so makes it doubly disappointing that they are seemingly choosing to do and offer nothing.../QUOTE]

They're not trying something different, they're not trying anything at all is my point... it's the "why should we bother trying to do anything to improve upon or differentiate ourselves or try to provide a better experience when we can just throw our money around and force people to use our platform (if they want access to certain titles)"... The fact that they can afford to do so makes it doubly disappointing that they are seemingly choosing to do and offer nothing...

Imagine if Epic just struck as many deals as they could to get games on their store (non-exclusively) and then put up an exclusive deal (which they subsidise with all that cash)... "Buy ANY 3 games on Epic Store and you'll get the cheapest one FREE!" or how about coming up with a new concept (something that would be possible using their fat stacks)... "Epic store will allow you to TRADE IN your finished games for credit against new titles"... I'm not pretending to understand all of the logistics and legalities of doing things like this but I feel like deep enough pockets as they seem to have would open doors. Combine that with a team who can actually make a slicker, nicer interface and storefront than Steam has (which let's face it wouldn't be that hard) and there's your "Steam-killer"

They are offering a free, high quality game to everyone every two weeks for which the developers receive the same payment as if someone bought the title. That is different.

However, the main strategy for Epic is not focused on the consumer. It is focused on offering developers/publishers a better deal - that is direct competion with other stores and seems to be a different business strategy to other stores. I'm guessing that's to try and break the old problem where customers won't use the store because there is nothing to buy, and publishers won't use the store because there isn't any customers. They are trying to build their catalogue to get a foothold in the market.

I think the ball is in Steam's court now. If they want these games back then they need to counter these deals by offering devs/publishers something better. E.g. the same deal but with non-exclusivity? Or they may decide that they will still make enough money by waiting out the 6-12 month period and just make Steam customers wait.

 

[AHarvey]

Heads up that Transistor is now free to download. Next game up, on May 2, is World of Goo. Must be running out of money now...

A free game is a free game

 

[chrcoluk]

I think these are key points of your message. UPlay have attempted to gain market share by using a strategy of deals which are exclusive to their store (as opposed to full exclusivity), but as a result it hasn't been very successful.

Therefore, why would Epic try to follow a strategy which has been proved to fail on other stores? They are trying something different instead.

They have gained market share tho given their starting point was 0%.

How do you define successful?

 

[wnb]

They have gained market share tho given their starting point was 0%.

How do you define successful?

Bottom line and share price

 

[uncle_rufus]

They are offering a free, high quality game to everyone every two weeks for which the developers receive the same payment as if someone bought the title. That is different.

I'll give you that... the game giveaways are a good example of something they are doing that is actually trying to compete properly and attract customers without forcibly trying to lock out their competitors

However, the main strategy for Epic is not focused on the consumer. It is focused on offering developers/publishers a better deal - that is direct competion with other stores and seems to be a different business strategy to other stores. I'm guessing that's to try and break the old problem where customers won't use the store because there is nothing to buy, and publishers won't use the store because there isn't any customers. They are trying to build their catalogue to get a foothold in the market.

I agree that is what they are doing, but this is the part of their strategy where in the opinion of many they are going about it in a way that is too dismissive of the consumer. Nothing wrong with competing by offering a better revenue split - that is, as you say, competing with Steam on price for the developer. But it's the extra step of hoarding these games into their little walled garden, encouraging devs to ignore their fans and force them to do things a certain way that feels like it sets a bad precedent... If Epic gain that foothold what comes next? Permanent exclusives? If devs are that willing to do anything for a sufficiently big bag of cash, will Epic's influence start to bleed into the games themselves?

I think the ball is in Steam's court now. If they want these games back then they need to counter these deals by offering devs/publishers something better. E.g. the same deal but with non-exclusivity? Or they may decide that they will still make enough money by waiting out the 6-12 month period and just make Steam customers wait.

The fact that they haven't, and haven't even really acknowledged or responded in any way shows perfectly that they don't think they need to... How many of the exclusivity deals with Epic do you think have been signed (primarily) because of the better revenue split, and how many do you think are because of the massive payoff that they offer? If they really felt that Steam's cut was such a bad thing and they genuinely wanted to affect change then why allow their game to launch on Steam after 6 - 12 months? To me the whole thing simply smacks of greedy opportunism which Epic are happy to take advantage of (while the money lasts)

 

[Random Guy Esq.]

I find this to be a bizarre move by Epic, from a PR standpoint. Basically, they've bought Psyonix, and Rocket League will now be an Epic exclusive.... years after launch! RL will still be available on Steam to anyone who bought it there of course. But just seems like a weird move. Story on Gematsu.

 

[Malevolence]

I find this to be a bizarre move by Epic, from a PR standpoint. Basically, they've bought Psyonix, and Rocket League will now be an Epic exclusive.... years after launch! RL will still be available on Steam to anyone who bought it there of course. But just seems like a weird move. Story on Gematsu.

So this means that once it's removed from sale on Steam people who already own it will have to buy it again on Epic in order to access any future DLC. Pretty scummy to be honest.

 

[Timber]

Epic buying Psyonix makes huge sense. Psyonix use Unreal Engine 3, RL is a huge Live Service success and probably ripe for being made free-to-play. Also they have a large number of active users they can try to transition from Steam to EGS.

 

[new boy]

I no longer play rocket league, but I think its an absolutely fantastic game!

I find they news of Epic buying it very concerning. I think Psyonix were already doing a very good job of milking that cash cow, without completely ruining the game. (Though I haven't been following things for about 18 months and I now see there are "season passes" or something? So maybe that has changed?)

I hope Epic don't milk it dry and leave whats left of the the F2P corpse to rot... That would make me very sad as I have very fond memories of that game and wish it the best for the future.

I will be watching what Epic does here with interest. I cant see anyone but Epic and their shareholders doing well from this though

 

[CaptainRAVE]

I find this to be a bizarre move by Epic, from a PR standpoint. Basically, they've bought Psyonix, and Rocket League will now be an Epic exclusive.... years after launch! RL will still be available on Steam to anyone who bought it there of course. But just seems like a weird move. Story on Gematsu.

Another game to be ruined by greed.

 

[sinwave]

Probably seems like a minor thing to some, but what annoys me most about the EPIC launcher is that they don't have a way to set a limit for download speeds.

I don't have the fastest connection so it doesn't take much to max it out. EPIC updates go full speed until they're done so I can't watch Twitch/YouTube or play any online games. even browsing the web can be annoying when all your bandwidth is being used up. I'd rather it takes twice as long to download but allows me to use my internet connection for the duration.
Steam has a bandwidth limiter.
Origin has a bandwidth limiter.
UPlay has a bandwidth limiter.
But not EPIC.

Now I know with all the feature EPIC is missing you could argue it's early days, but they're releasing into a market with existing competing products. I feel they need to be pretty competitive from day 1. They can see what others have done and what works. Fortnite shows that they're not afraid to steal ideas from similar products.

You are not alone there. My pet peeve with any application which can saturate the connection to the detriment of other activity on the network.
To be fair though, so far I haven't seen it kill my other connections the way windows 10 update or Gamesessions does.

 

[NZXT30]

There hasn't been a free game worth installing the client for me. I already owned subnautica.