Epic Games will refund Shenmue 3 backers angry about exclusivity deal

[midian182]

In brief: Not for the first time, there has been a backlash after a title that was supposed to arrive on Steam has become an Epic Games Store timed exclusive. To try and appease angry backers, those who contributed to the Shenmue 3 campaign are being offered refunds, and they’re coming from Epic Games itself.

Shenmue 3 developer Ys Net and publisher Deep Silver revealed the Epic Games Store exclusivity deal back at E3, which will see it launch on Steam after a year on Epic’s storefront. As we saw with Metro Exodus and Phoenix Point—another crowdfunded project—people were angry by the decision.

After it was initially reported that Ys Net wouldn’t be providing refunds, the company announced in a Kickstarter update that it would be offering people their money back. They can also change from the PC to the PS4 version, and those who stick with the Epic Games Store release will have the option of getting a Steam key.

To protect Ys Net’s development funding, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney announced that his company would be covering the cost of all the refunds. He added that the situation shouldn’t be repeated in the future as Epic plans to coordinate with other stores to ensure Steam key availability in advance, or guarantee refunds at announcement time.

When future games go Epic-exclusive after offering crowdfunding rewards on other PC stores, we’ll either coordinate with colleagues at the other stores to ensure key availability in advance, or guarantee refunds at announcement time.

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) July 2, 2019

While Epic Games Store head Steve Allision suggested in March that its exclusivity deals would eventually end, Sweeney later confirmed they would continue—regardless of a game's previous plans or announcements around Steam.

Last week, Sweeney said the Epic Games Store exclusives would ultimately benefit gamers, thanks partly to its 88/12 split, which sees 88 percent of a game’s sales go to the developer/publisher, and 12 percent to a storefront. Steam still uses a 70/30 split.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/80782-epic-games-refund-shenmue-3-backers-angry-about.html

 

[Puiu]

A niche game is now on a niche platform ensuring its failure to capture any significant player base. It lost me (and many others) as a costumer even though I was really excited about it.

TL;DR the writing is on the wall for Shenmue 3.

Maybe it will have better luck on consoles.

 

[Uncle Al]

You know, EPIC has had sooooo many problems you would think that their management needs to be completely replaced and bring in some more ethical, solid thinking people. There is just no excuse for so many screw ups ......

 

[dangh]

Happy to see Epic is helping them out. Don't think this game will live to expectations, but might give it a try if pricing will be acceptable.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

A niche game is now on a niche platform ensuring its failure to capture any significant player base. It lost me (and many others) as a costumer even though I was really excited about it. TL;DR the writing is on the wall for Shenmue 3. Maybe it will have better luck on consoles.

Epic's platform isn't so niche if you're looking at the total number of users. Fornite has 250 million players, of which 85 million are on the PC using Epic's platform. So Epic has at least 85 million users if we look at their most popular game alone.

 

[texasrattler]

Why do articles keep saying steam has a 70/30 split when its been said that isnt true.
do people not do research.
its getting old hearing the same old untrue crap.

 

[MonsterZero]

Tim's getting roasted on twitter. Just shut down already Epic, it's inevitable.

 

[Puiu]

Epic's platform isn't so niche if you're looking at the total number of users. Fornite has 250 million players, of which 85 million are on the PC using Epic's platform. So Epic has at least 85 million users if we look at their most popular game alone.

It is a niche platform by any other name. Don't include the Fortnite players with the people who actually use the store beyond launching that game, especially since you are talking about a f2p title.

The majority of Fortnite players are just kids who don't give a rats ars for an old franchise they never heard about and which costs full price. These people are too busy asking money from their parents for in-game items so that they don't get bullied at school for having a default skin.

 

[retsxel]

This exclusivity nonsense is no help or benefit to anyone. The devs are artificially limiting their own profits. It's really lacking intelligence.

Why do articles keep saying steam has a 70/30 split when its been said that isnt true.
do people not do research.
its getting old hearing the same old untrue crap.

That percentage only changes if you go above a certain dollar amount of sales, IIRC $10million, and then lowers again after $50million. Most games never sell that much, so the 70/30 rule applies.

 

[Evernessince]

You can buy them out of their promise but you can't buy back customer trust. I was interested in this title but I don't trust EPIC and no longer trust the devs.

 

[Axiarus]

A niche game is now on a niche platform ensuring its failure to capture any significant player base. It lost me (and many others) as a costumer even though I was really excited about it. TL;DR the writing is on the wall for Shenmue 3. Maybe it will have better luck on consoles.

Epic's platform isn't so niche if you're looking at the total number of users. Fornite has 250 million players, of which 85 million are on the PC using Epic's platform. So Epic has at least 85 million users if we look at their most popular game alone.

If most of the Epic Store users are in ONE game...its still niche.

 

[Puiu]

This exclusivity nonsense is no help or benefit to anyone. The devs are artificially limiting their own profits. It's really lacking intelligence.


That percentage only changes if you go above a certain dollar amount of sales, IIRC $10million, and then lowers again after $50million. Most games never sell that much, so the 70/30 rule applies.

Maybe, but many indie devs benefit greatly from the free keys that they can sell anywhere and from many things Epic is lacking.

And many of the exclusives Epic has been buying are those that are certain to pass those sale goal marks.

The whole 12/88 debate is just stupid PR talk, an excuse to do anti-consumer business practices. If they really cared, the devs would have flocked to others stores like the Discord one which offers an even better deal. But nobody is talking about Discord right?

If the devs had just asked on social media, many would buy from other stores that offer better deals, including Epic. But as it stands they chose the easy money and decided that cancer is good for the PC market and gamers. Epic blew away any chances it had to become the next big store by insulting every potential customers and saying that it's for their own good and they should turn the other cheek too multiple times.

I'm sorry, but no good deal for the devs will excuse a store that treats me like an *****.

 

[retsxel]

If they really cared, the devs would have flocked to others stores like the Discord one which offers an even better deal. But nobody is talking about Discord right?

There's a reason nobody is talking about Discord. It's a chat site. Nobody thinks; " I want a new game, let me go check Discord! ". If devs really cared they would go to GOG, a site that actually cares about it's customers, devs and the games it sells. Steam may be the biggest, but certainly isn't the best. GOG is the best, hands down, full stop.

 

[Puiu]

If they really cared, the devs would have flocked to others stores like the Discord one which offers an even better deal. But nobody is talking about Discord right?

There's a reason nobody is talking about Discord. It's a chat site. Nobody thinks; " I want a new game, let me go check Discord! ". If devs really cared they would go to GOG, a site that actually cares about it's customers, devs and the games it sells. Steam may be the biggest, but certainly isn't the best. GOG is the best, hands down, full stop.

It's all about perception. It can change on a dime if people in the industry actually wanted to do so.

And I do agree about GOG. I also have games on that platform and these often have better deals than on Steam or Humble (another store I use often)