Epic Games Store now open!

[TheSwede]

Well, regardless of what I've said in this thread, I'll be grabbing the freebie.

Looks like competition is gonna increase further with discord set to give Devs 90%

https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/14/18139843/discord-pc-games-store-revenue-split

I already grabbed my copy which I said earlier in this thread is the only reason I getting the launcher. I did however not know that Discord had a game launcher as well ! Maybe you chould do a new thread about that one ?

 

[Tute]

It doesn't lead to more competition though as companies just pull their games from all other distribution platforms to sell exclusively on their own, at whatever price they want to charge.

Then there's the question of how much the Epic launcher is helping itself to the rest of my files.

 

[chrcoluk]

will be boycotting it, they need to entice me by unique features or out competing on price, I find paying for exclusive content as a dirty anti competitive practice.

I have yet to pre order or pay full price for any non steam game.

 

[mark43]

I already grabbed my copy which I said earlier in this thread is the only reason I getting the launcher. I did however not know that Discord had a game launcher as well ! Maybe you chould do a new thread about that one ?

Oh god no!

 

[spoffle]

Yay, another gaming platform that we don't need. It's bad enough with EA and Ubisoft trying to push their stuff on their own rubbish platforms, and now this is being added in as well. Wonderful!

Origin is fine. U Play on the other hand, nah I'm gonna swerve that.

It's not as convenient, but the reality is that we need competition in the digital game store front thing.

I honestly don't mind running Steam, Origin and Epic Games clients. You gotta run the Epic Games client if you play Fortnite anyway, so it's no different, they're the same client.

 

[spoffle]

Epic Store influences developers to pull Steam releases

It's a good thing. Steam has been the only major choice for a lot of developers, and the cost being less than half to publish on Epic Games store is clearly gonna bring custom.

Millions of people already have the Epic Games launcher anyway because of Fortnite.

This is gonna cause competition and Steam to do something about their cut, which is a good thing. It might even give them a kick to start actually developing games again.

 

[chrcoluk]

sometimes competitionis a bad thing.

e.g. which is better

skysports + added inclusive EPL channel that had the games that BT now owns for same price
or skysports + paying extra for BT for what used to be the inclusive EPL channel.

another example

movie a,b,c,d,e all on netflix for 7.9 a month, but disney own movie B, starz owns movie E, and the company that owns movie A decides to move it to amazon films as amazon outbid netflix. The other two decide to start their own service.

so suddenly to get access to movies a,b,c,d,e you pay netflix 7.99 + pay starz + pay amazon + pay disney

Both steam and netflix in their competitionless forms were reducing piracy for sure, I think we deffo going to see movie piracy rise, games is less certian but I think its not as good situation for pc gaming as say 5 years ago.

I would say it benefits content creators but not consumers.

 

[Coolasmoo]

Think the same thing is happening with The Expanse @chrcoluk

Season 1 & 2 on Netflix

Season 3 when it ever surfaces now on Amazon

 

[spoffle]

sometimes competitionis a bad thing.

e.g. which is better

skysports + added inclusive EPL channel that had the games that BT now owns for same price
or skysports + paying extra for BT for what used to be the inclusive EPL channel.

another example

movie a,b,c,d,e all on netflix for 7.9 a month, but disney own movie B, starz owns movie E, and the company that owns movie A decides to move it to amazon films as amazon outbid netflix. The other two decide to start their own service.

so suddenly to get access to movies a,b,c,d,e you pay netflix 7.99 + pay starz + pay amazon + pay disney

Both steam and netflix in their competitionless forms were reducing piracy for sure, I think we deffo going to see movie piracy rise, games is less certian but I think its not as good situation for pc gaming as say 5 years ago.

I would say it benefits content creators but not consumers.

They're streaming services. You can't directly compare them because they don't offer the same sort of products using the same sort of pricing scheme. One's a purchase based model, the other a subscription based model. They are incompatible.

 

[Roar87]

sometimes competitionis a bad thing.

e.g. which is better

skysports + added inclusive EPL channel that had the games that BT now owns for same price
or skysports + paying extra for BT for what used to be the inclusive EPL channel.

another example

movie a,b,c,d,e all on netflix for 7.9 a month, but disney own movie B, starz owns movie E, and the company that owns movie A decides to move it to amazon films as amazon outbid netflix. The other two decide to start their own service.

so suddenly to get access to movies a,b,c,d,e you pay netflix 7.99 + pay starz + pay amazon + pay disney

Both steam and netflix in their competitionless forms were reducing piracy for sure, I think we deffo going to see movie piracy rise, games is less certian but I think its not as good situation for pc gaming as say 5 years ago.

I would say it benefits content creators but not consumers.

If it benefits content creators then it benefits consumers are content creators will produce more high quality products with the revenue they're earning, it'll also mean a larger market which will attract even more content creators driving quality up

 

[Moothead2]

If it benefits content creators then it benefits consumers are content creators will produce more high quality products with the revenue they're earning, it'll also mean a larger market which will attract even more content creators driving quality up

I don't really see anything other than price being a determining factor where I buy from though. There aren't any features off the top of my head that would make me switch from one to the other.

 

[TheSwede]

Well, not sure how serious it is but thought I post it for others to read incase you not seen it.

Epic Games Store Privacy Policy Conflicts With EU GDPR Laws, Sketchy Refund Policies

 

[bigmike20vt]

It doesn't lead to more competition though as companies just pull their games from all other distribution platforms to sell exclusively on their own, at whatever price they want to charge.

Then there's the question of how much the Epic launcher is helping itself to the rest of my files.

That is how completion works. If people start putting games on epic store because of cheaper price then valve will have to respond, or just put their own games on it of course.... Which would mean valve would have to actually make games again rather than leeching of the other games

 

[mark43]

That is how completion works. If people start putting games on epic store because of cheaper price then valve will have to respond, or just put their own games on it of course.... Which would mean valve would have to actually make games again rather than leeching of the other games

But competition does exist with Steam games. I can buy a key through a multitude of stores all competing for my business by trying to offer the best price. I'm not sure how its better having a game released exclusively through the Epic store that I can only buy through that store at the price they set?

 

[bigmike20vt]

But competition does exist with Steam games. I can buy a key through a multitude of stores all competing for my business by trying to offer the best price. I'm not sure how its better having a game released exclusively through the Epic store that I can only buy through that store at the price they set?

But like I said earlier why should valve the the arbiter of the keys to the kingdom of pc software with their client?. It would be less of an issue if steam was not 99% shovelware junk.

If a Dev wants to sell on a different store because they only charge 40% of what steam charge them I just don't see why you should not let them.
My mate used to own the rights to no Fear brand of energy drinks. Sainsbury's charged him a 6 figure sum to sell in their store. Why should he be forced to pay that esp if for instance Tesco's wanted half the amount?

 

[mark43]

But like I said earlier why should valve the the arbiter of the keys to the kingdom of pc software with their client?. It would be less of an issue if steam was not 99% shovelware junk.

If a Dev wants to sell on a different store because they only charge 40% of what steam charge them I just don't see why you should not let them.
My mate used to own the rights to no Fear brand of energy drinks. Sainsbury's charged him a 6 figure sum to sell in their store. Why should he be forced to pay that esp if for instance Tesco's wanted half the amount?

Yep that's fair enough, its entirely up to the dev if they want to use somebody who takes a smaller cut (albeit with access to a smaller market, at the moment). And yeah I don't particularly want Valve to control the market, I'm fine with using multiple clients. However, I still don't see this as improving competition for the reason I have mentioned.

 

[Bishie]

Steam is a firmly established platform with a myriad of features that simply aren't available elsewhere, and most of it's users have sizeable game libraries. If Epic cared about the consumer, their launcher would have had comparable features from the offset, and a massive selection of competitively priced games. Indie developers pulling Steam support in favour of exclusivity on Epic's store won't encourage anyone to adopt the platform, and most AAA developers are more likely to use their own in order to maximize profit.

 

[spoffle]

But competition does exist with Steam games. I can buy a key through a multitude of stores all competing for my business by trying to offer the best price. I'm not sure how its better having a game released exclusively through the Epic store that I can only buy through that store at the price they set?

Steam offer us, the consumer a service and they offer developers and publishers a service as well. We're talking about competition for the service for publishers and developers.

 

[spoffle]

Steam is a firmly established platform with a myriad of features that simply aren't available elsewhere, and most of it's users have sizeable game libraries. If Epic cared about the consumer, their launcher would have had comparable features from the offset, and a massive selection of competitively priced games. Indie developers pulling Steam support in favour of exclusivity on Epic's store won't encourage anyone to adopt the platform, and most AAA developers are more likely to use their own in order to maximize profit.

They don't really need anyone to specifically adopt the platform. As I've said a few times, the launcher that people download to play Fortnite is the same games launcher they're selling games from. Millions of people already have it downloaded and installed.

 

[Bishie]

They don't really need anyone to specifically adopt the platform. As I've said a few times, the launcher that people download to play Fortnite is the same games launcher they're selling games from. Millions of people already have it downloaded and installed.

A sizeable install base doesn't guarantee sales. I'd wager the majority of Fornite players seldom spend a penny, so what makes you think they'll purchase obscure indie titles from a featureless storefront?