RogueSix wrote on Jul 22, 2020, 14:57:
Silent Bob wrote on Jul 22, 2020, 13:38:
Avus wrote on Jul 22, 2020, 12:26:
I definitely worry Epic game store will go out of business MUCH MORE than Steam.
It’s interesting. For Valve, Steam is the endless stream of revenue that drives the rest of their business. It’s also allowed them to make enough mistakes that would have shut down most other companies. Or forced them into a buyout.
For Epic, it’s Fortnite and that revenue won’t last forever. So the clock is ticking for them to take enough of Steam’s market share to generate a sustainable profit.
Really? When did Epic stop their licensing business? And have they vowed to never develop another game but Fortnite? Are all their assets, development studios, franchises etc. worth $0 except Fortnite? Is their $18bn market valuation solely based on Fortnite? How did they even exist and survive as a company since 1991?
Before Fortnite they didn't have the money to throw around on a store and get into slapfights with Steam, or hand out free games, or anything of the sort. They were a game company who happened to license their engine -
which isn't a bad thing, but it certainly wasn't what put them in their position now. If their big earner goes away, all of a sudden, they'd still be a game company who happens to license their engine again,
but they'd still be paying the big-league bills that come along with the new lifestyle. They've got a buffer, sure, but if they can't make their store the big earner by then (love it or hate it, Fortnite won't last forever - nothing ever does), they're back to being a small shop with really big shop sized bills. That math never ends well over a long enough time period.
They've grown too much to ever be able to go back to what they were. Either they'll figure out how to stay big and continue to eat like a king, or they'll shrivel and starve to death on the kind of diet that used to keep the smaller Epic nice and full since 1991. Those morsels just aren't enough to feed the beast nowadays.