Epic Games Storefront - A Good Incentive for Piracy

a_skeleton_05

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Someone should let the people that threw 1.5 billion dollars of investment capital at Epic that they're wrong because Punko has the right of it. While you're at it, better tell the experts at Epic Games that starting a store front is silly despite it giving them a really great platform to further their engine licensing efforts. When they ask you why, just pull a pie out of your pocket and start ranting about nonsense, and when they ask you why you think an ever-growing share of an ever-increasingly large pie is a bad thing, just throw it at them.
 
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Punko

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I'm sorry my English isn't good enough to overcome your lack of reading comprehension.
 

Cybsled

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21% decrease in revenue for LoL.

If you don't think that impacts Riot, you are insane.

Are they going out of business? No, I never said that.

Are they losing people, and along with it interest from 3rd parties, streaming revenue, ... ? Absolutely.

There are a lot of reasons behind that: Stale meta dictated by the developers, it is an old game at this point (it is almost 10 years old), MOBA genre not being the hot shit anymore, heck even people converting to DOTA2 and HOTS.
 

Punko

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There are a lot of reasons behind that: Stale meta dictated by the developers, it is an old game at this point (it is almost 10 years old), MOBA genre not being the hot shit anymore, heck even people converting to DOTA2 and HOTS.

Are you stating their income has gone down because people are moving to other games on the market?

Careful, someone might start bitching about how you dislike steam or fortnite kids.
 

Ravishing

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I hope that clears it up for you. Try scrolling back and reading what was posted.

The only post we need to quote is this one to make sense of your ramblings:

I'd rather pay 10% more on steam then get it elsewhere which is less convenient.

In fact I think everyone that buys games on steam is already doing that.


Your literal 1st reply to this thread... exactly 9 minutes after the thread originated, has you admitting to be a Steam fanboy and writing off Epic's store completely. You're a shill.
 

ronne

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ITT: people don't comprehend how colossal Fortnite is and how big of a deal that is for launching a platform like this.

Remember why all of us had Steam in the first place? Because you had to to play Half-life 2. Fornite is the Half-Life of current year, only 100 times bigger. Entire generations of kids will grow up with the Epic store being their daily app to play their favorite game. Couple that with the super aggressive profit share and this could finally force some real competition on to Steam.
 
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Punko

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The only post we need to quote is this one to make sense of your ramblings:

Your literal 1st reply to this thread... exactly 9 minutes after the thread originated, has you admitting to be a Steam fanboy and writing off Epic's store completely. You're a shill.

That post was about me buying on steam, despite knowing you can get games cheaper elsewhere.

How does my comment write the epic store off? I haven't even commented on their store.

Couple that with the super aggressive profit share and this could finally force some real competition on to Steam.

HL3 announced?!
 

Ravishing

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How does my comment write the epic store off? I haven't even commented on their store.

You're consistently using a 12yr old's argument. Please stop. Adults know how to read between the lines. let me explain: You INDIRECTLY commented on Epic's store by saying you would purchase on Steam anyway. Yes, you 100% didn't comment directly on their store, but you indirectly 100% did so.

You imply that Steam is more convenient. Without even trying the competition.

You're hand-waving away the platform the same way you're hand-waving away everyone arguing against you. "B-b-b-b-ut I literally didn't type that, so you're wrong!!!"
 

Utnayan

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Epic offers a lot as well. Maybe not the matchmaking part, but with Gamesparks, Gamelift, Etc, that perk isn't as necessary for game devs anymore. And the Matchmaking Steam offers isn't comparable to dedicated servers anyway. Its fine for hosted servers but most games these days require some sort of dedicated server backend which Steam doesn't offer.

I get it - I would have to see the side by sides for developers/tools/tool kits/quality/UI/etc for that aspect of it.

However, with Steam to integrated into damn near any PC gamer's life currently with a huge population of friends accumulated over the years, game library, and easy to use integrated multiplayer system - those few are some of the major hurdles to overcome. Needless to say, people will go where the cheapest prices are, and believe it or not they are usually on on steam any more, but activated through Steam and that's another hurdle. And those codes come from Amazon, GMG, Store fronts aside from a few select publishers who want to try and bring it in house (And usually fail miserably)

I love the competition from Epic here - because valve needs some. With that said, I don't think they are taking everything into account and all the variables of why people use steam before entering the market. And that's aside from the fact gaming consumers want one service to do it all - and they have that now aside from a select few games that one can add as a non steam game anyway. Gamers (And everyone I might add) are tired to death of disparate services not integrating together and also tired of handling multiple accounts and clients.

That also goes for TV. CBS All Access, FX+, AMC Premiere... All of these are falling on their ass 1) They should be included with a cable subscription. 2) People don't want multiple streaming solutions that they are 1) Paying for. 2) Paying for Twice in some instances. 3) Having to keep track of what shows are on what app/service. 4) Maintaining account information on all those services. So for those frustrated with that? They pirate.

As the gaming industry starts to mirror the piss poor decisions of the TV/Movie industry, they will only recreate the same issues and end up losing revenue ini the end.
 
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Vandyn

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ITT: people don't comprehend how colossal Fortnite is and how big of a deal that is for launching a platform like this.

Remember why all of us had Steam in the first place? Because you had to to play Half-life 2. Fornite is the Half-Life of current year, only 100 times bigger. Entire generations of kids will grow up with the Epic store being their daily app to play their favorite game. Couple that with the super aggressive profit share and this could finally force some real competition on to Steam.

I'm not going to say it's insignificant because it's not. But saying a game distribution platform is going to make Valve look over it's shoulder simply because of Fortnite also isn't completely accurate either. It doesn't feel like that long ago when EA announced Origin and how they were exclusively selling their games there and it barely affected Valve (if at all). It's not like Battlefield, Dragon's Age and Mass Effect are small indie titles that don't make any money either. What will make Valve stand and take notice is when you have a decent number of devs/publishers that decide to sell their titles only on Epic's platform. Does the percentage that Epic offers outweigh all the other benefits that Steam gives developers not the mention the potential to selling to an audience of upwards 100 million? Don't know, maybe for smaller indie devs?

I don't know a whole lot of people that like exclusivity either. I like the idea of the ability to browse multiple game libraries from a central 'hub' but I can't see Valve (or even EA) ever agreeing to something like that. Another idea is something that GoG does called GoG Connect where if you own certain titles on Steam you are able to get a DRM Free key on GoG also. Something like that would take huge buy in from publishers though.

Another aspect to consider is not only how embedded Steam is in the consumer but also how embedded it is in the industry. You've got online stores all over the place that sells games and bundles (Humble, Fanatical, etc.) and 90% of those are always steam keys. Gamers are buying (and getting gifted) games from Steam and in a lot of cases are never buying from Valve directly. That would also have to change in a more significant way to make a sizeable dent in Valves market share.

I'm not saying none of this is possible because it is. It's just not that easy even if you have a game (fortnite) that happens to have a shitton of players.
 
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Punko

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You're consistently using a 12yr old's argument. Please stop. Adults know how to read between the lines. let me explain: You INDIRECTLY commented on Epic's store by saying you would purchase on Steam anyway. Yes, you 100% didn't comment directly on their store, but you indirectly 100% did so.

You imply that Steam is more convenient. Without even trying the competition.

You're hand-waving away the platform the same way you're hand-waving away everyone arguing against you. "B-b-b-b-ut I literally didn't type that, so you're wrong!!!"

I indirectly commented on something? Perhaps I even indirectly implied something?

Did I also indirectly state I am the only customer on the world? I'm not even part of the target audience for their store, I'm old.

I didn't say anything about their store, only about my personal position, but you seem to be so salty mad that you are literally seeing things.

Keep struggling.
 

Ravishing

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I get it - I would have to see the side by sides for developers/tools/tool kits/quality/UI/etc for that aspect of it.

However, with Steam to integrated into damn near any PC gamer's life currently with a huge population of friends accumulated over the years, game library, and easy to use integrated multiplayer system - those few are some of the major hurdles to overcome. Needless to say, people will go where the cheapest prices are, and believe it or not they are usually on on steam any more, but activated through Steam and that's another hurdle. And those codes come from Amazon, GMG, Store fronts aside from a few select publishers who want to try and bring it in house (And usually fail miserably)

I love the competition from Epic here - because valve needs some. With that said, I don't think they are taking everything into account and all the variables of why people use steam before entering the market. And that's aside from the fact gaming consumers want one service to do it all - and they have that now aside from a select few games that one can add as a non steam game anyway. Gamers (And everyone I might add) are tired to death of disparate services not integrating together and also tired of handling multiple accounts and clients.

That also goes for TV. CBS All Access, FX+, AMC Premiere... All of these are falling on their ass 1) They should be included with a cable subscription. 2) People don't want multiple streaming solutions that they are 1) Paying for. 2) Paying for Twice in some instances. 3) Having to keep track of what shows are on what app/service. 4) Maintaining account information on all those services. So for those frustrated with that? They pirate.

As the gaming industry starts to mirror the piss poor decisions of the TV/Movie industry, they will only recreate the same issues and end up losing revenue ini the end.

Steam is a behemoth and won't be dethroned anytime soon, that's for sure.

But I also don't think you can compare Steam/Epic/GoG/Origen to Television streaming.. 1 is a pay-for service, the others are FREE.
It's absolutely free to download Steam, Epic Market, etc.. you just pay for the games.
Its more comparable to Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Gamestop, etc.

Do I want all my products to be at 1 store? For convenience, sure, for pricing & competition.. No.

I play games that are mostly not on steam already.
Blizzard games, League of Legends, Fortnite : All require a different backend service. None on steam.
There is 0 inconvenience, you just click the game's shortcut and it opens the appropriate service. I see no reason that Steam would be more convenient than Epic other than for the browsing & purchasing aspect, similarly to going to a Walmart and buying literally anything I need compared to Gamestop where it's just games.


I indirectly commented on something? Perhaps I even indirectly implied something?

Did I also indirectly state I am the only customer on the world? I'm not even part of the target audience for their store, I'm old.

I didn't say anything about their store, only about my personal position, but you seem to be so salty mad that you are literally seeing things.

Keep struggling.

You're great at riddles, A+ dude.

And the goalpost shifts again.

Did I also indirectly state I am the only customer on the world? I'm not even part of the target audience for their store, I'm old.

So you like games, you like Steam, but you're not part of their target audience? You think Epic is just tailored to kiddies? Do you know Epic's History? Unreal Tournament? Unreal Engine? Infinity Blade? Paragon? You realize Epic has notoriously focused on a more adult audience? FortNite is an outlier for them. If you like games then you're part of their target audience.

Keep being shifty.


And I'm not mad, I'm just in the mood to argue atm. :D
 
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Punko

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Oh now I see, you are a fortnite player.

Thanks for the update, explains a lot.
 

Tarisk

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I think another factor in people's hesitations to go to a new store/service is that program's functionality and stability etc. Steam had years and years to be refined as the only real player in the game. So anyone new to it has to also make sure it's just as refined/easy to use/functional.

I'd be surprised if there aren't people who are hesitant to use the Uplay and Origin simply because of getting burned by how stupid they were, especially early on. Uplay still gives some retarded errors. Even moreso when you buy a game on steam that's ubi, and it just links you to Uplay to launch etc.

Then there's the constant cache clearing you have to do to launch some games without errors on Origin (or even login) that I used to have back in some of the games.

On the other hand. I feel the Blizzard app has gone pretty smooth with none of the issues in comparison and I don't mind getting games through that app and keeping it open full time along with steam.
 

Ravishing

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Oh now I see, you are a fortnite player.

Thanks for the update, explains a lot.
Is this one of those "You post on The_Donald!" comebacks?

Christ dude, lol... Of course I played the game. But if you're really interested in my gaming habits. I'm 90% LoL atm.

Fortnite isn't an outlier for them, its their core business right now.

I appreciate you using past tense when stating they used to focus on adult audiences.

Yes and no. FortNite is bringing in the most revenue (I assume) but their Core Business has always been the Unreal Engine.

Epic rakes in 5% or so from any dev using their engine. They are taking tech developed for FortNite and implementing it into their Engine for all to take advantage of. They have taken assets from previous games and released them for free for people to use to develop games. Basically FortNite has been a huge boon for them to allow free content & tech advancement with their Engine. Unreal Engine is a premiere VR engine now, which some say will be the future. And it's also able to compete at the mobile level (due to FortNite tech), which is the primary market for Unity.

The Unreal Engine is starting to have implications beyond Gaming too:

Weather Channel:

FoxSports Studio:

NVIDIA Creating Worlds & Animation:

Create Virtual Meeting rooms:
 
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Punko

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I don't think any current engine is the future of VR, since we are at least a decade away from comfortable hardware to run it on.

Think the rest of the discussion was beaten enough.
 

gshurik

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This is going to push piracy.

Epic don't have a particularly great track record at sticking to projects either. The tools they're providing are incredibly anti-consumer too, which is attractive for developers but shit for gamers.
 
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Ravishing

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I don't think any current engine is the future of VR, since we are at least a decade away from comfortable hardware to run it on.

Think the rest of the discussion was beaten enough.

For someone that harps on reading comprehension, you sure lack it.

Let me try to break down the simple sentence for you:
UE4 is the CURRENT leader of VR.
Comma.
Some people claim VR is the future.

You are not wrong with your statement, but it's also not what I said.