Is Epic Store buying 12 month exclusivity deals bad for PC gaming?

[Ed_Gein]

s?

 

[dwwaino]

Remove Tencent and I don’t have so much an issue. I prefer Steam but it’s not much different than Microsoft buying the rights to something like Tomb Raider for 12 months, or Sony getting 12 months of exclusive DLC for a game.

Epic will probably run a loss for buying those 12 months but the plan is to be a competitor to Steam and they making an investment.

Valve take agout 30% per sale. Ubisoft ignoring Steam to go uplay plus Epic Store for Division 2 tells me that that large publishers are happy to get away from Valve for whatever reasons. I don’t know if those reasons are best for us or just them yet though. Not only are Epic pouring money into they’re store they’re doing the same for Unreal to get more developers onto the engine. It’s actually a massive multi pronged move. I don’t know what I think yet but it will be interesting to watch.

 

[Quivorir]

I hate exclusives period. I hate timed exclusives even more, but unlike console it's not like you are tied to only one of Steam/Origin/Epic/whatever so I don't see the huge issue with it. The Tencent thing is obviously a huge problem though.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Made me refuse to install Epic. I understand to knock off steam and make another competitive marketplace you have to do something, Don't think thats the way, Especially considering how fickle the PC gamers are.

 

[dwwaino]

I spent lunch watching some videos on the subject since the Outer Worlds announcement and read a great comment.

To paraphrase: like it or not, Epic’s strategy is working as more developers are moving to it. If Valve are unhappy then they can begin by cleaning up their store and offering greater revenue cuts to the developers/publishers.

 

[E92_]

Honestly don't see it as that big of a problem on PC as you can just download the different launcher, I understand if its console exclusives as you actually have to spend a few hundred dollars to play the game.

 

[nameless]

Doesn't bother me at all.
Find it funny how upset people get that they need to go to another store for a game.

Lots of conspiracy theories about data stealing etc, that i see posted on Twitter/Facebook, which is very ironic.

I've got a bunch of free games out of Epic and not bought anything. Win.

 

[Count Zero]

It has been written that players who bought Metro: Exodus while it was available on Steam have not had their games updated because Epic is not passing patches to Steam. Also the Epic launcher is said to be spyware. I do not know how true these things are.

 

[dwwaino]

It has been written that players who bought Metro: Exodus while it was available on Steam have not had their games updated because Epic is not passing patches to Steam. Also the Epic launcher is said to be spyware. I do not know how true these things are.

The first point can be true, the second is tinfoil hat stuff. There was a claim that the Epic launcher apparently peeks at your Steam directory but this could be to cross reference licenses. Maybe it's actually to do with Metro that was purchased originally from Steam? Uplay already does this with Steam and it's no different from something like allowing Geforce Experience to scan your computer for games. The whole spying thing comes in when/if Tencent increase their company share to over 50%. Epic are a US company and Tencent are not a parent company, they are only an investor. Epic's T&Cs is no different from that of Steam's in the wording that information will be shared with parent companies but this is in regards to passing on information of sale from territories outside of the US. Paranoia is reaching fever pitch really.

 

[Agent93]

I've got a bunch of free games out of Epic and not bought anything. Win.

A bunch of free stuff eh? You're the product, and you're being sold to someone else.

 

[nameless]

A bunch of free stuff eh? You're the product, and you're being sold to someone else.

Oh I'm so scared of targeted ads.

 

[Agent93]

Oh I'm so scared of targeted ads.

You're in the majority in that respect (sarcasm noted).

 

[nameless]

This could be why people don't want to buy on EPIC store;

-It has terrible security. 80 million accounts were compromised due to a security “flaw” that allowed hackers to log into accounts without needing a password.
-Awful customer service. Many are reporting support tickets are going completely ignored.
-No automatic refunds. Have been known to refuse refunds even if you meet criteria.
-Games are more expensive due to Epics regional pricing.
-Epic makes you pay a transaction fee before purchasing a game.
-No anti-cheat support.
-No 3rd party keys.
-You cant play games offline.
-No social features like chat, user profiles, friend activity, groups, item trading, etc.
-No user reviews.
-No game forums, user created guides.
-No wish lists.
-No mod distribution.
-No item trading.
-No account sharing.
-No streaming to other devices.
-No broadcasting, screenshot capture/sharing.
-No controller support.
-No achievements.
-No cloud saves.
-No linux support.
-They are partially owned by Tencent

Fair enough, that's a more understandable list of reasons than I've seen previously.

Guess I'll just stick to getting my free games and leaving it at that.

On a personal note, none of those missing features affect me, but I still think they are glaring omissions.

 

[dav3]

This could be why people don't want to buy on EPIC store;

-It has terrible security. 80 million accounts were compromised due to a security “flaw” that allowed hackers to log into accounts without needing a password.
-Awful customer service. Many are reporting support tickets are going completely ignored.
-No automatic refunds. Have been known to refuse refunds even if you meet criteria.
-Games are more expensive due to Epics regional pricing.
-Epic makes you pay a transaction fee before purchasing a game.
-No anti-cheat support.
-No 3rd party keys.
-You cant play games offline.
-No social features like chat, user profiles, friend activity, groups, item trading, etc.
-No user reviews.
-No game forums, user created guides.
-No wish lists.
-No mod distribution.
-No item trading.
-No account sharing.
-No streaming to other devices.
-No broadcasting, screenshot capture/sharing.
-No controller support.
-No achievements.
-No cloud saves.
-No linux support.
-They are partially owned by Tencent

I'm not a fan of having another launcher to deal with, and Tencent is not a pleasant company, but the whinging about features is a bit much. It's a 3 month old product, of course it's not going to have the same features as something like Steam which has been around since 2003. Steam also had a security breach in 2011 where a database with 35mil accounts (including credit card details) was hacked into.

I get that it'll probably never be a great product, and any meaningful anti-cheat measures will probably never exist if it's a Chinese company, but there's certainly room for it to improve.

 

[dwwaino]

Epic launcher has finally implemented a search feature, and I'm sure it will keep improving. Things like user reviews I don't care about because they just get bombed when something happens that the community doesn't like and isn't a real reflection on the game. One of the biggest complaints is still Tencent as a share holder (not parent company, owner or anything, just an investor at this stage) but Australian's should be aware that they are already subject to what they are accusing Epic and Tencent of since the access and assistance bill became legislation late last year.

I'm not sure why Valve are getting a free pass. Lots of people hated them at the start when they made it so you had to get Steam to play DoD and CS. I get that it's better to have everything localised in one trustworthy place and I prefer it that way too, but it wasn't that long ago that Valve finally provided AUD as well as implemented a refund policy that complied with Australian law. It has to be more than up front cash that these big developers and publishers are jumping on to Epic and they clearly trust the platform as they are risking their own brand's image to do it despite the recent uproar it has been causing since Metro lead the way. The way I see it is Valve need to pick up their game and not expect a free pass. Also if this move is successful for Epic then they won't need Tencent's investment as much. Remember that Epic are more than a store front and Fortnite developer, they make and own the Unreal engine too, so they have reputation riding on this as well.

 

[dav3]

I disagree, I don't think the other features is a bit much. Especially when South American and Eastern European users are completely priced out of buying it due to no regional pricing as well as (one that wasn't mentioned) Epic Sore not being available in China so they can't legally buy the games. Sure, breaches can't be over-stated, but the last one on Steam was 8 years ago. Epic Store is still plagued quite heavily with accounts being hacked, hackers spending money on the account and Epic doing nothing about it. 80 million accounts is nothing to sneeze at and it's still an on-going problem. Many are being turned down despite meeting refund criteria, support tickets going ignored..... these aren't just small things to be whinging about. If you ask me, Steam is worth the extra % they are taking compared to the issues Epic Store is having. I don't think they are in any position right now to be buying off publishers to have their games as 12 month exclusives at this point despite these (what I call) major isses.When you take into account the first two issues I mentioned in this post there is a whole base of millions of people that are priced out or can't access this game to begin with which is as shitty as it gets since they're been deprived of games through no fault of their own, just a greedy business practice.

Actually the last major Steam security issue was discovered 12 months ago and had left people open for 10 years. Regional pricing has also been a relatively recent inclusion for areas. As for exclusives, they're unfortunate but at least it's possible to actually get the game on the platform, unlike the "greedy business practice" of console exclusives.
As I said, you're comparing a mature service to a brand new one.