Fuz
Banned
Is this... a launcher for launchers?
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Epic Launches Digital Games Store With 88 Percent Revenue Going To Developers
- Thread starter AlexxKidd
- Start date
CuNi
Member
I have a library of over 600 games on steam alone. I'm very comfortable with having over 90% of them in digital Form so I don't have to rent a second truck if I want to move them or dedicate a whole room to only house game cases. Storefronts are a very good thing. I'm not against 2 or 3. It's just the amount is getting too big. And the thing with "owning a product" can coexist with storefronts easily. It's not mutually exclusive.
DunDunDunpachi
Patient MembeR
EPIC has been making their money peddling the Unreal Engine for decades now. It only makes sense that they would partner with the same developers they're selling licenses too.
ljubomir
Member
Also, related to the Steam itselfm Valve developed:
-BigPicture mode, giving PCs a good looking, easy to use and stable console-like interface
-Cloud saves
-In-Home streaming, a high performance low latency local streaming technology with clients for Windows, Linux, Mac, Android and Linux ARM (RaspberryPi)
-No questions asked full refund policy for <2h playtime games
-Custom MP3 playback in games
-Family sharing for sharing games between close friends and family
-Proton for emulating windows games on linux, and SteamPlay in general which invigorated native Linux and Mac game development
-Steam Controller with haptic feedback and more importantly incredibly robust API for emulating KB&M on any controller
-Controller support layer for PS4, Xbox1, 360 and other console gamepads that dont require any third party software
-SteamVR API, room-scale tracking
-SteamOS, a PC-console platform of questionable success, which at least put the Linux gaming on the map (relatively speaking, it's still not great though)
-a lot of commitment to Linux gaming - graphic driver improvements, controllers, Vulkan API, wine/Proton etc
and possibly ton of other things that I've forgot. Basically, Valve have put a lot of effort and R/D into PC gaming, Linux & open source and customer protection which is outside of just having a web store and slapping some sales on the front page.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
So basically a Plex for gaming?
Blam
Member
Yes, and it's open source so you can add more to it, and styles are also the same so you can modify it to look however you'd like.
Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Just make shortcuts directly to all your games and put them on desktop/in a folder/on a toolbar/whatever you like, don't need any launcher-for-launchers.
Though some launchers like blizzard's are annoying in that they bring up their main interface whenever you launch a game for no reason, hope eventually they all stop that and remain trayed.
Though some launchers like blizzard's are annoying in that they bring up their main interface whenever you launch a game for no reason, hope eventually they all stop that and remain trayed.
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Heebie Jeebies
Banned
Dead in the water
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-12-05-epics-new-unreal-tournament-no-longer-in-development
Amazing how they've struck it rich with Fortnite given how badly they managed Paragon and now UT.
kaczmar
Member
cartman414
Member
Shots fired if true.
Daniel Pacheco
Member
*Interview from Eurogamer*
Eurogamer had the opportunity to ask Tim Sweeney some questions about the Epic Games Store via email. Here are his answers:
Can you say which publishers are signed up? Or which games it'll launch with?
Tim Sweeney: We aren't announcing the games just yet. Stay tuned.
Why is now the right time to take on Steam?
Tim Sweeney: We've been operating a storefront for Epic's own games for years. Now that essential features are in place, we're ready to open it open it up to other developers.
What do you think Steam/other platforms are doing wrong that you can do right?
MORE STORIES
:: Fortnite Forbidden locations: Where to dance at all forbidden locations
Tim Sweeney: Generally, we want to enable a more direct relationship between developers and gamers, and more efficient economics and discovery. Developers will control their product pages, free of advertising for competing games. Developers will be able to reach purchasers of their games through the newsfeed and, if the customer permits, by email. Creators will help developers reach gamers in a more entertaining and fun way, so games are not so limited by storefront screen space or top-charts space.
Will you consider a streaming service as well?
Tim Sweeney: We're focusing on downloadable games.
What is your content curation policy (versus Steam) for when the store opens up more broadly?
Tim Sweeney: We'll have an approval process for new developers to go through to release a title. It will mostly focus on the technical side of things and general quality. Except for adult-only content, we don't plan to curate based on developers' creative or artistic expression.
Epic will manually curate the Epic Games storefront rather than relying on algorithms or paid ads. We believe the ultimate vector for players to discover new games will not be our storefront but creators. Viewership of creator channels has greatly outgrown any storefront.
What's the vetting process going to be like? How does a dev get their game on your service?
Tim Sweeney: We're in the planning stages on the mechanics of opening up more widely and will release those details at a later date.
What's your DRM policy?
Tim Sweeney: We do not have any store-wide DRM. Developers are free to use their own DRM solutions if they choose.
How will you handle user reviews / vote brigading?
Tim Sweeney: User reviews are still in development and the store will launch without this feature. When launched, it will be opt-in by developers. We're experimenting with other mechanisms to improve this further.
How exactly will you reward creators for bringing exposure to game developers?
MORE STORIES
:: Fortnite Crown of RVs, Metal Turtle and Submarine locations
Tim Sweeney: Creators earn a share of revenue from each attributable sale, either by link or by manual creator tag entry, like in Fortnite. Developers set the rate of the revenue share and Epic pays the first 5 per cent for the first 24 months. Developers get immediate access to thousands of creators who can promote their titles with no friction, and can automatically entitle creators to a copy of their game if they choose so.
We believe this will make a more direct and sustainable connection between game developers and content creators.
And finally... will PUBG be on the Epic Games Store?
Tim Sweeney: We would be greatly honored to feature PUBG in the Epic Games store in the future, however there isn't any agreement in place yet.
Eurogamer had the opportunity to ask Tim Sweeney some questions about the Epic Games Store via email. Here are his answers:
Can you say which publishers are signed up? Or which games it'll launch with?
Tim Sweeney: We aren't announcing the games just yet. Stay tuned.
Why is now the right time to take on Steam?
Tim Sweeney: We've been operating a storefront for Epic's own games for years. Now that essential features are in place, we're ready to open it open it up to other developers.
What do you think Steam/other platforms are doing wrong that you can do right?
MORE STORIES
:: Fortnite Forbidden locations: Where to dance at all forbidden locations
Tim Sweeney: Generally, we want to enable a more direct relationship between developers and gamers, and more efficient economics and discovery. Developers will control their product pages, free of advertising for competing games. Developers will be able to reach purchasers of their games through the newsfeed and, if the customer permits, by email. Creators will help developers reach gamers in a more entertaining and fun way, so games are not so limited by storefront screen space or top-charts space.
Will you consider a streaming service as well?
Tim Sweeney: We're focusing on downloadable games.
What is your content curation policy (versus Steam) for when the store opens up more broadly?
Tim Sweeney: We'll have an approval process for new developers to go through to release a title. It will mostly focus on the technical side of things and general quality. Except for adult-only content, we don't plan to curate based on developers' creative or artistic expression.
Epic will manually curate the Epic Games storefront rather than relying on algorithms or paid ads. We believe the ultimate vector for players to discover new games will not be our storefront but creators. Viewership of creator channels has greatly outgrown any storefront.
What's the vetting process going to be like? How does a dev get their game on your service?
Tim Sweeney: We're in the planning stages on the mechanics of opening up more widely and will release those details at a later date.
What's your DRM policy?
Tim Sweeney: We do not have any store-wide DRM. Developers are free to use their own DRM solutions if they choose.
How will you handle user reviews / vote brigading?
Tim Sweeney: User reviews are still in development and the store will launch without this feature. When launched, it will be opt-in by developers. We're experimenting with other mechanisms to improve this further.
How exactly will you reward creators for bringing exposure to game developers?
MORE STORIES
:: Fortnite Crown of RVs, Metal Turtle and Submarine locations
Tim Sweeney: Creators earn a share of revenue from each attributable sale, either by link or by manual creator tag entry, like in Fortnite. Developers set the rate of the revenue share and Epic pays the first 5 per cent for the first 24 months. Developers get immediate access to thousands of creators who can promote their titles with no friction, and can automatically entitle creators to a copy of their game if they choose so.
We believe this will make a more direct and sustainable connection between game developers and content creators.
And finally... will PUBG be on the Epic Games Store?
Tim Sweeney: We would be greatly honored to feature PUBG in the Epic Games store in the future, however there isn't any agreement in place yet.
LordRaptor
Member
These all sound like terrible ideas for a storefront from a consumer perspective.
They sound kind of terrible from a storefront owners perspective too.
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Daniel Pacheco
Member
They are trying that all developers go ruinning to their store... and Steam is helping them with its shitty curation.
LordRaptor
Member
Steams curation policies are the reason why it attracts developers, not a reason they would avoid it.
The problem developers have isn't with curation - they're not upset they're allowed to put their games on steam in the first place, are they? - it is with discovery.
Things like "People who liked this game also liked ____", which epic seem to be actively preventing.
Daniel Pacheco
Member
I think that both things are totally related.
If the curation is shit (or isn´t exist) then you will have the problem of there will be tons of developers publishing their games so this causes a problem of visibility.
Tons of shitty games are published everyday and this is a problem for good games.
So that´s why I think that curation makes Steam bad, this causes a problem of visibility.
If you think the opposite, what will you do to solve the discovering problem?
If you have a good game, youy musn´t have a problem with release your game in any platform. If you are a bad developer you´ll be happy with the Steam curation policy.
They are happy with its curation:
And this one is not happy with Steam curation:
LordRaptor
Member
Its pretty foolish to think "They should let fewer games on the store, then my game will be more visible" because fewer games on the store is more likely for their game to not be on the store at all.
Good games aren't competing with bad games.
They're competing with other good games.
Daniel Pacheco
Member
Ok, taking your coment as Ok. What will be your solution for "discovering" games?
If they are not compiting how Steam can fix this panorama?
Daniel Pacheco
Member
On the other hand, Yes it is. But only have to avoid shitty games. And of course 50 games per day released affects to other game sales and visibility. Is not foolish, is comon sense.
Not all the developers has money to make a good PR and marketign campaign and they must release their game on Store with the unique hope of people could see their game published.
LordRaptor
Member
Nobody has a solution for discovery, and its arguable that its a storefronts job to do marketing and PR for a product anyway, but the things that steam has been working to add like curators to recommend games, notices of what your friends are playing, reviews on the product page, and "people who liked this game also like ____" links on a page are all things that aid discovery.
These are all things Epic say they don;t want to provide.
I don't know why you would think "not letting most games on the store" is going to help with discovery.
Like... that will work for what, a few months maybe? 2 years down the line you're no more discoverable.
e:
Its foolish, because it is under the naive assumption that a curation system will go:
"This game is good (I made it). These other games are bad (I didn't make them). So my game will go through, and these other games won't".
Which is such a phenomenal assumption that only a fool would put a business model upon it.
Because its far more likely to be "None of these games are good enough to go on the store"
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Daniel Pacheco
Member
Easy:
https://www.neogaf.com/threads/epic...g-to-developers.1468866/page-3#post-253638768
So if you are saying that nobody has the solution, why developers are not happy with the discovery system?
Has another platform a better discovery system? if yes, then is easy as copy it, but if no, why developers must be upset?
LordRaptor
Member
Like I said, a developer who thinks that letting fewer games be sold would solve their problems of not being discovered is being foolish, because its more likely that their game would not be sold at all
In business you have a number of risks, and the biggest risks are the unknowns.
Having someone yea or nay whether your product is even allowed to be sold is the biggest unknown of all.
It is insane to rely on someone you don't know, and whose criteria for acceptance you will never be privy to be the ultimate decision maker on whether your product even hits the shelves.
Discovery is a problem you have after you have a product to sell. If you can't even sell your product, who gives a shit about discovery?
llien
Member
Welp, it's the only option. But the fact that 30% cut is what Apple is charging should hit at how adequate that cut is.
LordRaptor
Member
I mean, its not the only option, you can sell steam keys for a game you made on your own website with an off the shelf ecommerce package and handle all of the payment processing, anti-fraud and chargeback / refunds shit yourself, and not give valve a penny if you're that bothered about the store.steampowered retailer cut.
Or you can sell steam keys at a lesser cut and let another storefront handle those fees, such as itch.io or humble.
But like I say, most devs are fine with that cut in return for the visibility of being on the steam store.
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Only taking 12% of dev's money.
Daniel Pacheco
Member
Actually I am agree with you. I don´t know why I said that hahah, it´s just my frustation about how Steam releases a lot of garbage.
TheWanderingOgre
Member
The same market that defends a single console future is creating a different launcher to every big developer/publisher.
Yeah... No. Thank you but no.
Yeah... No. Thank you but no.
LOLCats
Banned
Not sure if anyone noticed this
https://www.engadget.com/2018/12/11/iphone-ipad-infinity-blade-pulled/
Queue conspiracy theories.
https://www.engadget.com/2018/12/11/iphone-ipad-infinity-blade-pulled/
Queue conspiracy theories.
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Ulysses 31
Member
Yeah, not coming near that store for now.
Jigsaah
Gold Member
Hold up...so I been watching some youtube videos about this topic. Members of the so called PC Master Race have complained that they don't want games to be exclusive on Epics Games Store. They don't want to have to go to yet another store to buy and play certain games. Ultimately they conclude that Epic's game store is "bad for gaming" in general. They've said they have "transcended" the idea of exclusives and they want to leave that to consoles.
Ok First off, I do play on PC. Last I checked, I have Steam, Epic, Bethesda, Blizzard and Origin Launchers. Toss in a Microsoft Store for good measure on the Xbox App and yes...that's a lot of launchers. But essentially the currency you are paying to access "exclusive" games is...............disk space. I mean...am I missing something? At least you don't have to fork out another 3 to $400 to get to these exclusive games like console players do.
What the hell is wrong with people. These guys sound so...tender and fragile. Take a look.
Ok First off, I do play on PC. Last I checked, I have Steam, Epic, Bethesda, Blizzard and Origin Launchers. Toss in a Microsoft Store for good measure on the Xbox App and yes...that's a lot of launchers. But essentially the currency you are paying to access "exclusive" games is...............disk space. I mean...am I missing something? At least you don't have to fork out another 3 to $400 to get to these exclusive games like console players do.
What the hell is wrong with people. These guys sound so...tender and fragile. Take a look.
AlexxKidd
Member
From Endgadget's point of view, the Epic Games Store is the best thing that could happen to Steam..and the PC gaming market overall.
Jigsaah
Gold Member
I tend to agree. Developers deserve a bigger cut for their work. Who gives a damn what store its on, other than the publishers themselves.
Fuz
Banned
LordRaptor
Member
Okay, so how would you like it on console if your PSN / XBL friendslist didn't work any more, because EA want you to use your Origin Friends List instead, R* want you using your RockStar Social Club list instead, Ubi want you using your Ubi Online Social list instead?
Your gamertag doesn't carry over, because you have to re-sign up for all of those services?
you have to login to each of those services individually before you can play a game, instead of having a single sign in?
Why would that be good? "Because competition" right?
Thats basically a puff piece based almost entirely on speaking to a single developer who's already signed a year long exclusivity agreement.
Why is Epic suddenly a game changer? Are Epic bigger than EA? Bigger than ActiBlizz? Bigger than Microsoft?
Threeshotgamer
Banned
My biggest issue is that I don't want the practice of these platforms purchasing 3rd party exclusives to become how they compete with one another because that is just going to be bad for consumers.
Fuz
Banned
And yet those idiots have nothing agains steam's exclusives.
Threeshotgamer
Banned
demigod
Member
Why do they need a bigger cut for their work? They already receive big cuts by being digital. Whatever happened to passing the savings onto consumers by being digital? Oh that's right, jackshit. Why should I inconvenience myself with another store that has a worse launcher and no savings passed on to me? At least with Steam, I can buy games cheaper from sites like Green Man Gaming.
People talk about competition with Steam. Well this competition does NOTHING for consumers. In fact this is anti-consumer with Epic buying timed exclusives.
Fuz
Banned
Are you kidding me? There's a lot of games that came out only on steam on PC.
Threeshotgamer
Banned
Kadayi
Banned
I'm fascinated by this assumption that the Epic Store is going to become a powerhouse. Pretty much zero feature set, and little sense that Epic is going to build one. I agree competition is good, and Valve certainly need a kick up the butt with certain aspects of their storefront (although I like the new chat system) but having signed up for it Epic is going to have to do a hell of a lot more beyond giving me a free game every two weeks to convince me to stick around. I've a bunch of free games from Origin, doesn't mean I spend much time there unless I'm playing something EA published though. . The very fact that your username is fixed in this day and age is asinine for starters. I was listening to the bombcast crew talking about it today and albeit it was definitely the most notable thing for them from the VGAs yet none of them is impressed with the launcher and all seem kind of surprised they went with something so feature incomplete versus who it's going up against.
I think they're just banking on the profitability aspect to lure developers to their store on mass, and mayhap that might work, but the truth of the matter is, as someone who's been on Steam for a while, I've more games than Satan to occupy me and so I can happily wait a year for Rebel Galaxy Outlaw or Ashen to come to Steam. With EA titles I've no choice, so I tolerate Origin, but with time-locked titles...I'm happy to wait, especially given games rarely launch smoothly.
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