Epic Store Games and News

Rather than create a new topic (as it's related), I figured I'd mention how great the Epic Game Store is. I've been playing some Transistor, downloaded Hyper Light Drifter and Mutant Year Zero, and this week's free game is Fez. Next week there is Celeste and Inside! I'm not sure how they are making money, but I'm not complaining! So many critically acclaimed games for NADA.

Anyone else utilised this service?

Ooft, controversial. I've heard a lot of bad things about Epic and their approach, about how bare-bones their store is and about how they're only getting anywhere by throwing money around. I expect that it's a loss leader at the moment, but they're not exactly poor!

I've Epic Store (PC thread though make more sense) installed but not downloaded much on it as my laptop isn't great, it would never run Mutant Year Zero.

Depends on who you talk to Balla as yes they're throwing money around but devs are getting more money from the sales of games on it.

Which is only a good thing, just don't announce it like the Ooblets guys.

Conversely, don't respond like the Ooblets fans either. That was a whole messy mess.

Yeah it wasn't good all around.

The only real issue I've got is take Shenmue III, people backed that as a STEAM release and now it's going to be on Epic.

I don't really get how it makes a huge difference as still on PC but as someone who's backed things and not3 got or changed, I can get the annoyance.

For me it's a case of convenience. I prefer having all my games in one place, and that's Steam. This is why I never look at anything on Origin, for example.

I'm not really a fan of the Epic Game Store because it's pseudo-consumer friendly. It's great for people who want to save money, and who wait for reviews etc. But PC gaming is weird because everyone uses different quality computers, and so consumer reviews are actually kind of valuable.

Don't get me wrong, most Steam reviews are crap. But if there's an overwhelmingly negative response, it's probably because the game runs like arse or has a grubby microtransaction heavy approach.

I don't blame anyone for snagging a bargain price deal, but I think Epic are just doing a CEX. Undercutting the competition to try and establish themselves as the top dog, before hiking the prices. This isn't real competition, it's an Oligopoly in the long term.

And I don't think they're more dev friendly. Any developer uploading content to the Epic store, especially exclusive content, has by default a much smaller install base. So of course Epic offer developers a bigger cut of sales than Steam. The developers would be making less money otherwise. Epic markets this as "we give a shit about devs" but the truth is, this is the only way they can make their store appeal to devs.

But hey, while they're offering bargains it's worth a punt.

That's an interesting take, as I often feel overwhelmed by Steam.

Epic feels more curated - all the games I see on there seem to be of a certain quality and the interface is very slick and modern. I was initially reluctant installing it, but having Origin, uPlay, all my emulators and ROMs, as a few desktop shortcuts keeps it all tidy. And free games is free games!

Don't get my wrong, the Steam storefront is one of worst designed catalogues on the net, it overwhelms me too.

I have a massive wishlist, something silly like 100 games long, that I've compiled over several years so I normally just buy games when something from that is on sale and I'm not playing anything currently. Then I'll browse the store and add another 5 games to the list so the cycle can repeat

It works for me though, so there isn't much room for the Epic store in my habits. But I can definitely see the appeal of a game store that isn't filled with tat!

gjones wrote:

I'm not sure how they are making money, but I'm not complaining!

The answer is Fortnite.

Muss wrote:

And I don't think they're more dev friendly. Any developer uploading content to the Epic store, especially exclusive content, has by default a much smaller install base. So of course Epic offer developers a bigger cut of sales than Steam. The developers would be making less money otherwise. Epic markets this as "we give a shit about devs" but the truth is, this is the only way they can make their store appeal to devs.

I know the bigger cut is the widely publicised perk but the Ooblets devs did talk about the fact the Epic dropped a fair whack of cash for exclusivity rights for their game which was actually their projected sales target to keep afloat. I think that's pretty dev friendly all told, but of course you're trading a potentially bigger windfall for the guaranteed payout. I suppose when you're speaking about people's livelihoods, you can't be faulted for taking the guaranteed money everytime.

That's the thing that a lot of the fans don't seem to be able to see. Releasing games for small studios is a gamble. That said, Epic sounds like it might be putting indies in a bad place, forcing them to go exclusive to the store to get any space on the store while not applying the same criteria to bigger developers. Maybe they're not being as 'nice' to indies as it appears from the PR.

I'm going to split this thread because I think it's a sufficiently different topic and there's room for multi-page discussion on it, but if GJones (its de jure creator) wants it recombined then we can do that!

Balladeer wrote:

That said, Epic sounds like it might be putting indies in a bad place, forcing them to go exclusive to the store to get any space on the store while not applying the same criteria to bigger developers.  

I suppose that's a risk unto itself, isn't it? You get guaranteed money from Epic for giving exclusivity rights to the EGS, but Epic and their store aren't exactly in the public mind's best books right now, so you risk harming your company's reputation and any future releases. I've no dog in the fight considering all my gaming is done on PS4 or Switch these days, but it's interesting to follow if nothing else.