Some developers are ditching Steam in favor of the Epic Games Store

[Polycount]

In context: Epic launched its own game storefront last week, and it has already generated quite a bit of interest in the PC gaming community, primarily due to its incredibly developer-friendly revenue split system. Unlike Steam, where Valve takes a 30 percent cut of all game sales (until certain figures are achieved), Epic only pockets about 12 percent of a given game's revenue.

It seems the idea of keeping 88 percent of their sales is too appealing a notion for some developers to ignore. Indeed, some teams are going so far as to pull their games from Steam and publish them on Epic's store instead.

Others, such as space sim Rebel Galaxy Outlaw developer Double Damage, are going the timed exclusive route, publishing their games on the Epic store for a limited time before migrating them to other platforms.

The benefits of these exclusives, timed or otherwise, could be massive for Epic and third-party game developers. By publishing their highly-anticipated games exclusively on the Epic store, developers ensure they receive a higher share of the profits.

On the other side of the coin, Epic benefits by effectively forcing users to adopt their platform to play some of the most exciting upcoming games. If you're an avid PC gamer, this is a tactic you are probably familiar with.

Companies like EA, Ubisoft, and even Bethesda are all convincing PC players to use their respective distribution platforms (such as Origin, Uplay, and Bethesda.net) by selling their latest titles exclusively through said services.

To be clear, for now, only a handful of developers are moving away from Steam entirely. The vast majority of indie and AAA studios likely do not want to be the guinea pigs for Epic's latest experiment. Instead, they will probably wait and see how well the store does before making any final decisions.

Regardless, the fact that it's happening at all -- even on a smaller scale -- is proof that Epic's store has potential. Whether or not it will ever fully realize that potential remains to be seen.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/77814-epic-store-influences-developers-pull-steam-releases.html

 

[cliffordcooley]

All I have to say is Goodbye Devs. If Epic's client pans out, we may see each other again. Until then you are choosing to leave us.

 

[ghostf1re]

Isn't this just going to cause fragmentation for games? Buying games on Windows using their store already does this and most people hate it. I'll stick to Steam. They've done me right since they launched back in what 2001 or 2002? Also I have about 200 games on there over the years. I'm far to invested at this point to even consider a change. I already hate services like Uplay and Origin. None of them are as good as Steam.

 

[ShagnWagn]

Does this mean people who already paid on steam lose access to what they bought? Is support/updates for the game being pulled from them? Are they being forced to use Epic to continue playing what they bought?

As I have commented before, I will not be running 20 different clients to play games. Figure out a way so these games can run independent like they have been for years. It is already ridiculous.

 

[Nero7]

Steam is much more than just a launcher or store, its a social media plattform much like Facebook for gamers.

I love it for its many features. The forums where you can even engage directly with devs, the screenshots and artwork and videos you can upload, the groups, the chat both text and voice, the whole connectivity between you and friends, the reviews.

The Epic Game Store is pale in comparision.

Steam is definitely one of the best things that have come to gaming and has revolutionized it. By the way I do play games since 1993, I know the old days and they make me shiver.

Hopefully the Epic store will soon descend back into obscurity. Giving away free games wont help, people deal with their store because of fortnite, certainly not because they want to waste time with some 5$ indie that you get for dirt cheap in humble stores or on key seller sites.

The last big thing before Battle Royale was MOBA, that trend has settled down and so will Battle Royale one day and with it this new launcher.

 

[Adhmuz]

It's nice and all for Epic to entice game developers to their platform by giving them a bigger chunk of the profits, however there still may be the risk of loosing sales to the people who just don't want to bother with yet another platform for the sake of a single game. 88% is better than 70% but not if you loose 40% of your sales after all. I personally don't plan on spreading my game purchases out across multiple platforms for the sake of a game or two. With the exception of Battle.net and free games that you get with products or other means that require the likes of Uplay or Origin, but those usually end up uninstalled and never played anyways.

Much like the streaming services for other content, it'll get to a point where it gets to be too much of a hassle and makes it all the more tempting to resort to illegally downloading digital content, games included...

 

[psycros]

All of the trustworthy online game stores need improvements. At GoG they desperately need to make the patch and update process simpler - its like they purposely attempt to hide updates, and they give them proprietary names that don't reflect the actual patch version. Yes, I know about GoG Galaxy, but who honestly wants to run that thing? Steam literally has no button for requesting a refund - you have to screw around in their typically horrible service menus to find it. The customer has much less control over what they see than they did a couple years ago, the in-game web browser has been broken for eons and the "algorithm" needs to be taken out into a field and shot. The handful of smaller contenders are a mixed bag and usually not fooling with because of limited selection. If Epic can avoid the missteps of their competition they stand to capture a decent chunk of sales. A few suggestions for Epic Games:

* Stop running your store at OS startup by default. We see the damn icon - we'll run it if we need to.
* Create a program group for your start menu entries like a real developer. Anything that gets dumped into the root of my start menu is immediately uninstalled and I know I'm not alone on this.
* Keep all sections of the store ORGANIZED and highly CONFIGURABLE. The customer should be in control of the experience and the experience should serve the user, not the other way around.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

Ah, love that competition...who knows what may result.

 

[kevbev89]

If they had some option to migrate your games over to another platform... then we're talking.
I'm just waiting for the platforms to slowly die until we are left with a couple.

 

[Lounds]

Steam is the best service, they've been investigating into their customers for years. No share holders to impress, just loyalty to customers and they return it.

 

[Jamlad]

Ah, love that competition...who knows what may result.

A fractured market of walled gardens where exclusive content is locked behind arbitrary distribution platforms as publishers drive to extract as much cash from you as possible while any benefit to the user is merely an afterthought?

I'd normally celebrate competition. The cable companies are leeches. But this is like going backwards in time through the console generations where the majority of releases were platform specific.

 

[NahNood]

Does this mean people who already paid on steam lose access to what they bought?

Don't worry, your owned games would not suddenly be removed and no longer accessible. They are just no longer sold, and I would hope if current they would still be updated if the dev isn't a complete ****. lol

 

[R00sT3R]

All Epic are doing is the classic launch tactic of a new business, low ball the costs to potential customers, reel them in, and then as time goes by increase your take to what you (really) wanted in the first place.

It maybe a 12% cut today but that will rise steadily over the next 3yrs.

 

[Dimitrios]

So will this mean STEAM down the road will be mostly filled with garbage INDIE games? Also if EPIC does this, will this mean they would pass the savings temporary to us gamers just to grab new people and hurt STEAM at the same time???

 

[Darth Shiv]

Isn't this just going to cause fragmentation for games? Buying games on Windows using their store already does this and most people hate it. I'll stick to Steam. They've done me right since they launched back in what 2001 or 2002? Also I have about 200 games on there over the years. I'm far to invested at this point to even consider a change. I already hate services like Uplay and Origin. None of them are as good as Steam.

Microsoft have been notoriously shite at stores. They are the anomaly not other stores...

 

[Carrandas]

Isn't this just going to cause fragmentation for games?

Yeah. Although I already have games on Origin, Uplay, Battle.net, steam and gog.com...

I prefer to have all my games on steam but that doesn't seem to be an option anymore. Not if you want to play the big AAA games.

 

[Uncle Al]

Now here is an industry that needs very strong and long lasting tariffs. Selling off intellectual property that benefits the competitors should be nipped in the bud.

 

[Puiu]

Does this mean people who already paid on steam lose access to what they bought? Is support/updates for the game being pulled from them? Are they being forced to use Epic to continue playing what they bought?

As I have commented before, I will not be running 20 different clients to play games. Figure out a way so these games can run independent like they have been for years. It is already ridiculous.

No. You'll still have access to the games you bought.

 

[koblongata]

Hm, it's not exactly like console wars, as it's just another free to download memory resident program I have to install... (as long as it doesn't bogged down my system).

 

[MaitieS]

Isn't this just going to cause fragmentation for games? Buying games on Windows using their store already does this and most people hate it. I'll stick to Steam. They've done me right since they launched back in what 2001 or 2002? Also I have about 200 games on there over the years. I'm far to invested at this point to even consider a change. I already hate services like Uplay and Origin. None of them are as good as Steam.

That is totally fine because Epic Store doesn't want you. They want new generation of gamers not old gamers who are loyal to Steam. It is just like with Facebook. New generation doesn't use it. Just like new generation doesn't use Steam as well (in the future). I am happy that there are more stores, Epic Store, GOG, Discord & Steam.

Valve was ignoring and didn't do anything for couple of years. Now is time to act. 2019 all or nothing Valve

 

[cliffordcooley]

They want new generation of gamers not old gamers who are loyal to Steam.

I think Epic would have a different view on that topic.

 

[MaitieS]

I think Epic would have a different view on that topic.

Hard to say. They know that Steam is here since 2003 & that they have a lot of loyal players. They need to do something really big for us too. Something like GOG is doing with GOG Connection that you can transform your games for free on their platform We'll see but they have A LOT of Fortnite kids.

 

[cliffordcooley]

What they need to do is work on getting a handshake from Steam somehow. This way the accounts can be linked and games played on both clients.

What Epic really needs to do is work on keeping all the low budget games out of their library. If Epic can build a library of quality games, people will migrate, even those loyal to Steam. After all their name is Epic.

 

[MaitieS]

What they need to do is work on getting a handshake from Steam somehow. This way the accounts can be linked and games played on both clients.

What Epic really needs to do is work on keeping all the low budget games out of their library. If Epic can build a library of quality games, people will migrate, even those loyal to Steam. After all their name is Epic.

Perfectly said