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[Dunki]

An another developer bites the dust and sold his game and his future to Epic Game store.



Whats even more disgusting is that this game was crowdfunded with a promise to get GOG and Steam keys. These are now out of the question. They already stated people who funded this game will not be able to get a GOG or Steam key. But they can "happily" get a refund of their backed money. Of course people do not take it positively. And are furious on YouTube. Twitter Reddit and their forums.

This is clearly another low and shows how less some developer and also EPIC do not give a fuck about customers anymore.

Since this was on FIG people are now filing FRAUD charges to the whole Campaign.

 

[Tip_of_the_Hat]

Wow, that's pretty scummy.

 

[Arkage]

Can only really think they're afraid it wouldn't sell too well and wanted to dat cash money.

 

[Arachnid]

:/

I was super excited for this game, and I've been following it since it's announcement. Just went from Day 1 to get the full edition for 20 dollars on steam in 2021.

 

[TeamGhobad]

is this guy an idiot? didn't he see what happened with Metro? RIP.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Sleazy. I don't understand why they are cancelling backers who wanted a GoG or Steam key. Couldn't they offer it after 1 year? I mean, that would still be insulting, but now backers are in a position where they need to cancel, get their money, and then buy it themselves through the platform of choice after a year.

 

[Fuz]

didn't he see what happened with Metro

Incidentally, do we have any sales figures on it? I'm not convinced the outrage damaged sales so bad. And taking the moneyhatting into consideration, I fear that was the most profitable choice for (that shitty) Metro publisher.

I don't understand why they are cancelling backers who wanted a GoG or Steam key

Wha...? They're not, they're just offering refunds.

AS THEY FUCKING SHOULD.

 

[Kadayi]

Can only really think they're afraid it wouldn't sell too well and wanted to dat cash money.

Pretty much my conclusion also. I thought it looked interesting (been following development for a while but didn't back it thankfully) but certainly nowhere near as polished as Firaxis XCOM games which it was always going to be unfavourably compared to given the funding differentials. I would say this was a bad move, but I suspect from their perspective the financials made sense.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Wha...? They're not, they're just offering refunds.

AS THEY FUCKING SHOULD.

I am aware they are offering refunds.

Are they never releasing those games on GoG and Steam? The 1-year exclusive sounds like the game will eventually launch elsewhere.

So what I'm wondering is what is meant when the OP states the following:

They already stated people who funded this game will not be able to get a GOG or Steam key. But they can "happily" get a refund of their backed money.
.

Have I misunderstood? It sounds like they won't offer their own backers a GoG or Steam key, even though the game will later be launching on those platforms.

Begone with you, loyal backers.

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

Wtf?! I backed this. I'll get a refund after the next backer build is released.

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

Double post - sorry!

 

[Dunki]

I am aware they are offering refunds.

Are they never releasing those games on GoG and Steam? The 1-year exclusive sounds like the game will eventually launch elsewhere.

So what I'm wondering is what is meant when the OP states the following:



Have I misunderstood? It sounds like they won't offer their own backers a GoG or Steam key, even though the game will later be launching on those platforms.

Begone with you, loyal backers.

this was the actual message yes. They however edited the fAQ with the fact that they will get Steam and GOG keys after the one year passes.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

this was the actual message yes. They however edited the fAQ with the fact that they will get Steam and GOG keys after the one year passes.

Gotcha, thank you for clarifying.

 

[Shifty]

Best hope is that the backers exercise their right to a refund and let him ride that Epic pay packet to whatever conclusion on his own.

If not, well, the free market wins again I guess

 

[demigod]

Dick move.

 

[PhoenixTank]

Should've negotiated that backers still get the keys on their chosen stores, but restricting general sale to Epic.
Worse things have happened to backers and their rewards, but absolutely a dick move.

 

[Heebie Jeebies]

Another great deal for consumers thanks to the intelligent and kind people over at Epic. Doing great things for PC gaming, a new golden age for the platform has dawned.

 

[Holammer]

The man is getting ripped to shreds in the YT comments.

 

[michaelius]

Crap I wanted to make this episode 3 of my competition is great series

And yeah really dick move on both developer and EGS part and it hurts even more since UFO series is one of my favourites and I always though that Gollop is great guy.

 

[zeorhymer]

The company who owns the engine and the store strikes again! It's so much better for the community because of competition!

 

[Dunki]

The man is getting ripped to shreds in the YT comments.

they are getting ripped everywhere. Social media, their reddit, their forums. It is a real disaster and they want to hold an AMA tomorrow^^

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

Looks like the video isn't listed on their YT channel anymore?

 

[Dunki]

Looks like the video isn't listed on their YT channel anymore?

yeah they unlisted it which is a really stupid panic reaction

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

Well'p, I submitted my refund. I was really looking forward to the game, but I won't support a developer that allows themselves to be moneyhat'd (on PC - consoles are a lost cause), especially this late in a game's development.

 

[sol_bad]

HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAH
Now Epic are screwing over people who supported a crowd funded game? Must have been a substantial payment offering for the game to screw over customers.

They are also giving away a years worth of DLC for free. An indie dev giving planned paid DLC away for free. Yeah, Epic offered a substantial sum if they are giving up a years worth of potential revenue.

 

[LMJ]

Rather than go in with these underhanded BS tactics, why doesn't Epic just fund 3rd party games create exclusive lists under their own name similar to how Microsoft and Sony have done... Help pay for development and things like that

Exclusive content would bring people to your software store, oh and so would adding all the features your competition does Epic...wink wink

 

[Stuart360]

Surely backers will be able to get a refund if they desire right?, or will the fact that ts only a 1 year exclusivity deal mean that they wont have to give refunds at technically the game still is coming to Steam?

 

[Dunki]

Surely backers will be able to get a refund if they desire right?, or will the fact that ts only a 1 year exclusivity deal mean that they wont have to give refunds at technically the game still is coming to Steam?

they are getting refunds and people right now use it very much. Some also fill a fraud charge on FIG because they were promised a Steam and GOG key at launch.

 

[TheSadRanger]

Did they ever even look at Firaxis' XCOM sales numbers on steam where the game sold the most....... It sold like trash on consoles and you want to take a title that has the majority of your fans on steam and then go to epic store exclusive? Bold move there.

Even XCOM2 didn't sell that well on steam compared to the first game and far worse on consoles and you want to alienate the fan base of an extremely niche' genre?

 

[Sentenza]

Incidentally, do we have any sales figures on it? I'm not convinced the outrage damaged sales so bad. And taking the moneyhatting into consideration, I fear that was the most profitable choice for (that shitty) Metro publisher.

No, we don't. And I'd bet you that you won't be getting them anytime soon either, precisely because they aren't going to be that good.
Still, for the publisher/dev is probably all about how much Epic paid upfront, anyway. Now, about building up the brand and goodwill from customers... That's a probably going to be a whole different story on the long run.

 

[Fuz]

It is a real disaster and they want to hold an AMA tomorrow

Ouch. There are less painful ways to suicide.

 

[DigitalScrap]

Wow. This seems like a huge business strategy mistake, and will piss off a lot the people who backed the game. I’m really curious to see the dollars offered on these Epic Store exclusives. Hopefully some numbers for some the deals will leak to the press at some point.

 

[Fbh]

Sucks for those that were looking forward to it though at least they are offering refunds.
Must have been one hell of a deal though if they are willing to give away a year of DLC, piss off a large part of their backers and probably damage their credibility for any future Kickstarter campaign.

 

[TheSadRanger]

No, we don't. And I'd bet you that you won't be getting them anytime soon either, precisely because they aren't going to be that good.
Still, for the publisher/dev is probably all about how much Epic paid upfront, anyway. Now, about building up the brand and goodwill from customers... That's a probably going to be a whole different story on the long run.

Also Metro is a well established series and in a slightly more popular genre being a pseudo FPS game. Being a new IP in a relatively niche' genre it's nowhere near as popular as Metro is.

Look at what releasing Hades on early access for Epic Store did for it's buzz being made from a well known indie darling developer like Supergiant. It's subreddit is dead, it doesn't even really have an OT on era and only a handful of people talk about it there.

There's been a trend happening where a game releases on epic store and after a month or so people just flat out forget about it, look at Hades and Ashen. The majority of fortnite players are people who don't give a shit about other genres, most of them will play exclusively fortnite without ever buying any niche' game like Hades or Phoenix Point. It's like trying to appeal those games to a typical Madden player, it's just not going to work in most cases.

Now is the money that good they're willing to sacrifice at least 2 million sold on steam for maybe 200-400k on Epic Store? I dunno. It seems really dumb at this point especially because Capcom is happier than ever with Steam pc sales as RE2 and DMC5 were in the #1 spot for weeks even beating out deeply discounted games. It seemed like the perfect time to release this on steam and I think they could have sold 3 million easy.

 

[DiscoJer]

That's a kick in the nuts. I was going to buy a new PC for this (mine is pretty old)

 

[Solomeena]

Epic/Tencent can go fuck themselves. I will never buy another Epic game or use their storefront, they are some evil fucks. I want competition but this is just bribing with a fuckwad of cash at this point and it only fucks us PC gamers over. VOTE WITH YOUR GODDAMN WALLET PEOPLE!!!

 

[sol_bad]

I'll still buy a game from Epic. If they ever get off their arse and make something I'm interested in. Its been 6 years since GoW: Judgement.

 

[lukilladog]

This is why I hate when people thank personally to companies LOL, these type of entities serve only their owners, it´s like talking to a wall, so stupid.

 

[Lanrutcon]

Lying bastards.

 

[TheSHEEEP]

I'm neither against Epic nor against exclusivity. Let's be honest, that is the only way to ever break Steam's quasi monopoly and bring some competition.
Take Satisfactory, for example. That game was never promised to go anywhere else, was Epic Store exclusive from the get-go afaik. No problem with that.
However, to go exclusive on a kickstarted (well, Fig, but anyway) game that was promised to come to Steam and GOG? That's a whole different level of fuckery.

But I refunded Phoenix Point a long time ago, when they broke their promise to bring the game to Linux.
I doubt I'll ever give money to that developer, they are too good at breaking promises it seems.

 

[Agent_4Seven]

Do we know already how well Metro Exodus sold on this shitty store? Or any other game for that matter.....

 

[Solomeena]

I'm neither against Epic nor against exclusivity. Let's be honest, that is the only way to ever break Steam's quasi monopoly and bring some competition.
Take Satisfactory, for example. That game was never promised to go anywhere else, was Epic Store exclusive from the get-go afaik. No problem with that.
However, to go exclusive on a kickstarted (well, Fig, but anyway) game that was promised to come to Steam and GOG? That's a whole different level of fuckery.

But I refunded Phoenix Point a long time ago, when they broke their promise to bring the game to Linux.
I doubt I'll ever give money to that developer, they are too good at breaking promises it seems.

Steam has never had a monopoly on anything, stop trotting out the standard Steam Haters Club rhetoric. And exclusives for PC gaming is moronic to say the least. We are not consoles, pc gaming is an open platform not some bullshit walled garden.

 

[mcz117chief]

I have the Signed Collector's Edition on pre-order and I honestly don't care where I can play the game as long as I get to play it. Whether it be Steam, UPlay, Epic or their own thing, it is irrelevant to me.

 

[Solomeena]

I have the Signed Collector's Edition on pre-order and I honestly don't care where I can play the game as long as I get to play it. Whether it be Steam, UPlay, Epic or their own thing, it is irrelevant to me.

So you have no problem what so ever with a BAIT and SWITCH from a developer that promised GOG and STEAM keys? Really? Some of you have to be astro turfing who shrug this off like it is no big deal, i refuse to believe you don't care about slimy and dishonest developers who bait and switch which is illegal as fuck to say the least.

 

[TheSHEEEP]

Steam has never had a monopoly on anything, stop trotting out the standard Steam Haters Club rhetoric.

I know reading comprehension is very obviously not your strength, so I'm going to explain this very carefully, hoping to give you some much needed education:
I said "quasi monopoly". That means that there was no serious competition, as is evidenced by every single developer ever who showed some sales numbers.
Steam never had noteworthy competition outside of small fish like itch.io or GOG, there are no storefronts out there that would have been able to eat a significant chunk out of Steam's cake.
This is simply the reality of the situation. Why do you think some of Steam's features are so bad? Like the review writing still not featuring a WYSIWYG editor, workshop lacking lots of features, etc. Reason: They had no competition, there was nobody else who offered anything close, so they had no need to improve.

I'm also not a Steam hater, I like Steam. It's the best store we have, plus the only bigger one that properly supports my OS of choice.
But I honestly hope the Epic Store succeeds, because that, by extension, will mean that Valve/Steam will have to up its game.

 

[Virex]

I'm neither against Epic nor against exclusivity. Let's be honest, that is the only way to ever break Steam's quasi monopoly and bring some competition.
Take Satisfactory, for example. That game was never promised to go anywhere else, was Epic Store exclusive from the get-go afaik. No problem with that.
However, to go exclusive on a kickstarted (well, Fig, but anyway) game that was promised to come to Steam and GOG? That's a whole different level of fuckery.

But I refunded Phoenix Point a long time ago, when they broke their promise to bring the game to Linux.
I doubt I'll ever give money to that developer, they are too good at breaking promises it seems.

Your username is quite fitting

 

[TheSHEEEP]

Your username is quite fitting

Never heard that one before. You really got creative there, kudos. Must've taken you a while.
Strangely enough, it always comes alone. The lonely ad-hominem with nothing resembling an argument anywhere in sight.
Hint: Doesn't exactly lend much credibility to anything you were trying to get across.

 

[mcz117chief]

So you have no problem what so ever

none

 

[KonradLaw]

Terrible optics. With Metro at least there was no crowdfunding and pre-orders to Steam were honored. Here they build their game with people's money, not just on Kickstarter, but people funded the development by pre-orders (they were pulling like 100K a month) and to just then shit on that fanbase...bizzare choice. I wonder if they didn't simply run out of money and Epic provided a lifeline.
It also shows Epic treats their partners not fairly. Because they allowed metro pre-orders to be honored. Here the dev was much smaller so they didn't give them the same courtesy.

Anyway, I will just wait for it to release on Steam in a year (unless they then release it fullprice there, if so I will wait for some sale).

 

[Stuart360]

I know reading comprehension is very obviously not your strength, so I'm going to explain this very carefully, hoping to give you some much needed education:
I said "quasi monopoly". That means that there was no serious competition, as is evidenced by every single developer ever who showed some sales numbers.
Steam never had noteworthy competition outside of small fish like itch.io or GOG, there are no storefronts out there that would have been able to eat a significant chunk out of Steam's cake.
This is simply the reality of the situation. Why do you think some of Steam's features are so bad? Like the review writing still not featuring a WYSIWYG editor, workshop lacking lots of features, etc. Reason: They had no competition, there was nobody else who offered anything close, so they had no need to improve.

I'm also not a Steam hater, I like Steam. It's the best store we have, plus the only bigger one that properly supports my OS of choice.
But I honestly hope the Epic Store succeeds, because that, by extension, will mean that Valve/Steam will have to up its game.

Steam doesn thave exclusive games, doesn't stop games releasing on other platforms, and even allows games to sell on key sites and giving customers the option to use those keys on Steam. Steam is literally the opposite of a manopoly, being popular doesnt change that.
Also Origin and Uplay exist dont forget, they couldnt stop Steam ,and Ubisoft went back to selling their games on Steam because of that.
Epics FortShite money, from little kids using their mama's credit cards, wont last forever.