Retired wrote on Apr 2, 2020, 14:48:
I thought I was going to be all in on FO76, but I didn't buy it. After reading a bunch, watching videos, streamers, etc.....I don't feel like I missed anything.

Can someone who is playing and enjoying give some info as to if and why I should jump in?

Thanks.

/edit: Thanks Horrorscope.

Beamer wrote on Mar 30, 2020, 07:51:
Epic is curated as a bug. They don't have the ability to add everything, only what they think will sell. That's a nice side effect that will go away. Discoverability still sucks, and one is always better off researching off storefronts than on it.

Slick wrote on Mar 26, 2020, 19:57:
It's kind of nice to have an actual curated list of high-quality content, as opposed to the Alibaba Warehouse that is Steam.

Slick wrote on Mar 26, 2020, 19:57:
I like how it's assumed that given the choice, game developers wouldn't want their game on a store that takes 12% instead of 30%. Weather it's exclusive to that store or not, shouldn't they want their games be available to the world and not have to throw stacks of paper at Valve for the privilege?

Slick wrote on Mar 26, 2020, 19:57:
A game which doesn't use Steamworks or SteamVR doesn't need to be on Steam.

eRe4s3r wrote on Mar 26, 2020, 11:31:
Betting it will include restrictions on which platform you can release

Slick wrote on Mar 23, 2020, 00:27:
I'm thinking all guns, infinite ammo, no hud, use monitor's crosshair and I'll be set.

MT Silver wrote on Mar 23, 2020, 01:05:
I really don't care what they called it. The 2017 Prey was excellent and I would love a sequel.

Slick wrote on Mar 18, 2020, 00:09:
I find it funny that this is "news".

Glad so many are content to keep handing 30% over to a company that hasn't had an original game idea since the original Half-Life.

I mean, why would anyone want to use the storefront of the people who actually employ 10,000 game designers? Fuck those guys! I'd rather give billions to Gabe with the 30% tax so that he can reinvest that money properly, in his own private yacht collection. The rich get richer.

When will people see that Steam is a cancer on the gaming industry, not a saviour. You're willingly supporting a platform that diverts money AWAY from game developers. I have a lot of love for the people who sacrifice and have to put up with so much grind, hardship, and competition just to get the chance to work in gaming. I want them to get my money.

Fuck GabeN.

LurkerLito wrote on Mar 2, 2020, 16:26:
That ruling will also apply here. Nvidia will be considered violating copyright law because they have a single copy of a game installed being shared by a bunch of users playing the same copy. To really get around this particular technicality, Nvidia would have to make a cloud drive for every user then make the user install the game in their own cloud space for each game. Then run that copy of the binaries that the user installed to their own cloud space.

Acleacius wrote on Feb 16, 2020, 11:57:
No idea where your getting that info because epic pays each pub/dev differently.

While they are obviously two different styles of games, Remedy's Control seems to disprove your info. Additionally Control is reported to be much more creative and have amazing gameplay.
Despite critical success from the media, sales were hampered. Also means a massive loss of PR dollars. All wasted because it couldn't reach a diverse audience.

Bhruic wrote on Feb 16, 2020, 09:52:
Wait, you start off by saying you can't say without actual sales data, and then make all sorts of conclusions about the financials of the situation without sales data. How do you know the "bribe money" more than covers potential losses? How do you know if developers/publishers care about how their games sell on EGS? If you're going to make lots of claims that rely on having good data, maybe don't start off by saying you don't actually have that data, because then all your claims look really stupid.

jacobvandy wrote on Feb 15, 2020, 22:40:

Eirikrautha wrote on Feb 15, 2020, 21:35:

afka Rossini wrote on Feb 15, 2020, 18:18:

Eirikrautha wrote on Feb 15, 2020, 15:40:
Well, at least they weren't stupid enough to launch on Steam at full price (there's a 40% "discount" on this year-old game... how generous...). Though I notice that the full price is listed at $39.99 and I don't remember if that was the full price on release. Either way, I'm not paying anywhere near that much for Epic's sloppy seconds.

I find that exclusivity deals have just saved me money, because I really have no burning desire to play some of these games after waiting (and enough lets-plays and other material has come out to show me that I probably would have wasted my money if I had bought immediately... looking at you Phoenix Point & Julian Gollop). I'd have bought Mechwarrior 5 launch day full price if it had come out on Steam. Now, I'm honestly not sure if I'll even bother when it gets rereleased, there's just too much wrong with it based on the lets-plays I've watched. Oh well, hopefully that "exclusivity money" was enough to make up for my lost sale...

Since it's the first AAA title I'm aware of to have Epic exclusivity expire and I had any interest in, I picked it up on Steam today for $24 US. That's less than half the original price. If enough Steam buyers show up this week, maybe developers will re-think Epic exclusivity.

Nope. The exact opposite will be true. If people still buy even after the year, all that tells publishers is that they can take Epic's money first, then take our money later. The only way they'll rethink exclusivity is if the games that have it don't meet sales expectations, both during and after. Otherwise, you'll just teach them they can slap you around and you'll still come back for more...

No, if they're smart, it all depends on how the math works out. They definitely would have made calculations beforehand to estimate the sales breakdown with and without exclusivity in order to make their decision, and soon they'll be able to tell how accurate those were. Just as there was the possibility for EGS totals to disappoint, there is the possibility that Steam sales are exceedingly strong, and both would be reasons to not do the same thing next time.

Bhruic wrote on Jan 15, 2020, 15:14:
Who cares if it's a weak/invalid comparison? Even if it were entirely apt, is there anyone who's actually happy about the fact that more and more online streaming services are popping up? The reason that people liked Netflix so much is that it centralized all of their watching in a single location. The only reason that I would give up the convenience of centralization is if it became too costly, but since the alternatives are all similarly priced, that's not an issue.

Beamer wrote on Jan 15, 2020, 08:52:
It's not that it doesn't align with my thinking. I don't use EGS. I enjoy that Steam is getting a kick in the butt to do more, though if this is what we have to blame the new UI on, ugh.

jacobvandy wrote on Jan 15, 2020, 03:35:

Jerykk wrote on Jan 15, 2020, 00:31:
EDIT: Huh, the numbers are actually way worse than I initially thought. I was thinking that the $251 million figure was Epic's cut but that was actually the entirety of the third-party game revenue. 12% of $251 million is only $30 million. They spent $23 million on discounts alone and the giveaways + exclusivity deals definitely cost more than $7 million so EGS was pure loss in 2019. There is zero chance of them doing that if they weren't aiming to be the market leader.

The math is a bit more complex than that, since those $10 coupons would have to factor into the split for each transaction they were a part of. The $251 million is what people actually paid for games, when the gross was +$10 as far as the third party is concerned on each of those 2.3 million purchases. It's impossible to figure out the specifics with so many unknown variables, but you're right, they definitely took a bath.

Beamer wrote on Jan 14, 2020, 22:28:

RedEye9 wrote on Jan 14, 2020, 20:45:

Kxmode wrote on Jan 14, 2020, 20:42:

RedEye9 wrote on Jan 14, 2020, 18:59:

Kxmode wrote on Jan 14, 2020, 18:25:
Epic is never going to defeat the established platforms.

That was never their plan.
All they want is a tiny piece of the pie and by the looks of it they’ve been very successful.

If that was the case, Epic could have jumped into selling PC games any time after Steam reached its dominant position in the late 2000s. Before Epic had Fortnite, they were bringing in over a billion from Unreal engine fees, not to mention whatever they made from game sales. But that's not what Tim Sweeney wants. He wouldn't try and disrupt Steam's position for a measly 2nd place. No, they're going for broke to try and overtake Valve.

Do you work for them? How would you know this?

As with all of this, he's talking out of his inexperienced ass because it makes him feel more right in his hatred. He says I'm projecting, but I've never seen a man so blinded by emotion.

He's walking confirmation bias.

RedEye9 wrote on Jan 14, 2020, 12:33:

Simon Says wrote on Jan 14, 2020, 12:25:
Giving away free stuff to hook people isn't competition...

It’s no different than when Steam, GOG, Humble Bundle or other stores give away games.

Kxmode wrote on Jan 14, 2020, 12:05:
Valve makes around ~3.5 billion per year. From Borderlands 3 and Detroit Become Human to Metro Exodus and more, Epic's store has or had a lot of in-demand third-party exclusives last year, almost guaranteeing they would see at least a billion in revenue. Half a billion is laughable for the effort they put forth. If Epic were a publicly-traded company, their stock would be in a free-fall with this announcement. Also, posting total customer accounts is a joke. Steam has over a BILLION. I know many of you want to move on and sing kumbaya, but it isn't going to happen as long as Epic continues to engage in anti-consumer and anti-developer (remember the Darq developer being denied simship because his game isn't as big like Cyberpunk 2077 or Jedi Fallen Order) antics.

Beamer wrote on Jan 3, 2020, 18:56:
I'll address the rest, but most of your competitors aren't true competitors. Most offer a very limited selection, rather than being everything stores. Most have smaller ambitions. Even with them, Steam has what, 85% of the market, if not more?