Sauce Boss wrote:Spoiler:MikeIsGood wrote:Superfito wrote:
Ehhh, I respectively disagree. Steam has plenty of competition from Windows, every publisher owned store and the three console OEMs. The marginal savings Deep Silver is going to make off the extra royalty %, when you factor in that they are going to sell less copies on Epic Store vs. Steam, is likely marginal. Steam offers value add with their service that Epic simply does not - chat, better friend support and even refunds. So overall, I think it's a pretty clear loss for consumers.
Honestly, with all the Xbox ads featuring Metro maybe MS didn't want this game offered on the Steam store and it was part of an advertising deal. When you stack up just the royalty delta, no way it tells the whole story.
Not arguing that it’s overall a loss for consumers. That likely was always going to be unavoidable as someone tries to get into the Steam market share. That sucks. But so does the Steam monopoly.
Their market share is big and I think you’re downplaying their size compared to their competition. The console shares are beside the point as I think it’s a discussion of the PC space, and on PC they have really had free reign to do whatever they have wanted the last several years, which is why their cut had gone up all the way to 30%. The user base they offer reflects that, but it’s a pretty outrageous cut IMO. It’s not a marginal difference moving to Epic which was offering them 18% more of their own profits.
I guess I just don’t understand the fervor. With them honoring all pre-sales on Steam, what’s the big deal that they did this 2 weeks, 2 days, or 2 years before release? The timing affected literally no one, and that’s what (from what I have seen) they have gotten the most flack from. I know it’s not a point you were making, but I wanted to mention it since it’s gotten so much attention.
Your point on Microsoft I can’t discredit, as I obviously have no idea what else might be going on. I’ll just say that I don’t care where I launch a game from as long as it launches (no issues there really that I’ve seen), and if the deva think they’re going to get more money elsewhere then more power to them.
Good discussion, though. I may be missing something - just my two cents.
By biggest problem is it's a net loss for me as a consumer to use Epic --- other than some semblance of charity to developers by giving them a bigger cut. I love video games, follow the industry, and have interacted with enough devs that I want them to succeed, but at the end of the day this is a consumer business and I'm making an entertainment purchasing decision. What you are doing for me, the consumer, and the experience that you provide matters to my purchase.
Here's a good excert from David Galindo's; developer on Cook, Serve, Delicous!; post on Gamasutra about the difference in store experiences on PC:David Galindo wrote:HUMBLE STORE
DRM-free packages (optional), access to Android versions of games (APK), Steam keys, Charity-share support, gift purchases for others, refunds (case by case basis), wishlists.
GOG.com
DRM-free packages, access to the GOG Galaxy client with Achievements, Leaderboards, Friends List, forums, cloud saves, roll back branches, multiplayer API, cross play with Steam, game reviews, wishlists, Steam keys for older purchases (via special promotions that vary from game to game), refunds.
STEAM
Achievements, Leaderboards, Steam Stats, Cloud Saves, Big Picture Mode, gamepad integration with mapping and community presets, forums, artwork/screenshot sharing hub, ability to stream video within the Steam client to friends and followers, The Workshop (community mod sharing), game reviews with filtering and metrics data (such as showing which reviews were bought on Steam, or an outside store, developer responses, etc.), Linux support for non-Linux based games, friends list with chat/presence integration and block/unblock, wishlists, dev hub with “follow” feature for news related updates, game guides by the community, Steam Music integration, Family Sharing, trading card economy with unlockable content, gift purchases for friends or those on Steam, full regional pricing, refunds.
EPIC LAUNCHER
Friends list (block/unblock functionality), DRM-free packages (optional), refunds, limited regional pricing (more regions to come in 2019).
They don't offer anything that makes them different, they're just buying exclusivity windows to try to make their own monopoly. Hell, they don't even eat transaction fees that are normally part of that industry standard 30% cut and force that on us, so we have to pay more during purchases. Their region pricing is getting better, but pulling Metro from the store made that game cost exponentially more for some people with that shift (sometimes 300% more based on where you live).
My big problem is that competition should be like this: A game, say Metro Exodus, comes out on Steam and Epic, then I can pick where I buy it. Just like I can choose to order something from Target, Amazon, Walmart, Newegg, etc...etc...
I don't have any rebuttal - fair points/good perspective.
ReasonablySober wrote:Spoiler:Okay, indulge me for a minute.
Found out yesterday that there is a site that let's you edit captions for old video games and save them. I knew I was gonna propose last night. I did, then I had to let everyone know in the best way.
I feel like I did alright with my favorite VG franchise (click through).
That's awesome! Congrats man. I, too, thought you were already engaged for some reason
Cool way to do this.
