I think the only thing we should pay particular attention to here is what steam does in response.
They are definitely not without competition, sure they may have the physical platform a lot of people are using, but other platforms can piggyback off them (GOG seems to be doing this to some degree), reduce their direct sales or otherwise alter the business steam does.
Epic has played down its hand, lets see what the market leader responds with, if nothing happens. Then Epic will probably be able to leverage this foothold to its advantage. Honestly, I donât see anything bad coming out of this, but I donât see much good either.
This feels like an attempt to just âget a slice of the actionâ on Epicâs part, not really driven by any particular drive or goal or need. They just want to get their 12%.
Feels like we are back in the days of intercontinental fishing boats⌠once an eon, a letter manages to make it to the other shore and even longer for a responseâŚ
One thing not mentioned here that is very relevant to businesses like Chrono is that the 30% cut Steam takes includes access to (nearly) unlimited keys that can be sold via 3rd parties where Valve makes no money. This is the only thing that allows Chrono, Humble, GMG, Fanatical, IndieGala, etc to exist. It remains to be seen if Epic will allow for this, but Iâm betting they wonât.
Here I am using Chrono, Humble, Fanatical all of the time, and I didnât even consider this⌠Thank you for the input @lonin. If Epic doesnât allow 3rd party retailers, then there is no way they can make a big impact on the market. Partly also because of the exposure so many different store fronts give for the individual games as well.
Apparently theyâll be giving away a game every two weeks, starting with Subnautica on the 14th and Super Meat Boy on the 28th. The upside of having more storefronts is that it always means more free games.
Some games announced at the VGAs seem to be releasing on the Epic Games store and not Steam, so this is a pretty big deal.
Do you know if this free to play for 2 weeks or free forever if you claim it like in a lot of Steam offers? This is a big factor for a lot of people I would imagine. I wouldnât want to be forced to play a particular game on their schedule. But a permanent free addition to any library is always welcome.
Well therein lies the problem, they are not in fact very clear about it.
The store will also feature one free game every two weeks throughout 2019. Epic is funding these free releases so you always have something new to come and check out.
Can read like weâd expect most giveaways to function, for a limited time youâre able to claim a game to own. But could also very easily be understood as youâre given temporary access to a game for 2 weeks at a time.
I suppose weâll see, I wouldnât recommend anyone to try to rush through Subnautica in 2 weeks though. While I donât doubt you could complete it in that time, Itâs a game to take your time for and get lost in. Playing it with a time limit in mind is probably going to make it a lot less enjoyable.
Judging from the past example with Shadow Complex Remastered it seems reasonable to expect that these games will be free to keep. On the other hand that was then and this is now and considering that theyâre promising a free game every two weeks for an entire year, the option of a two week trial also seems likely. On the other other hand two weeks to play a good game for free with another game waiting behind the corner is still a pretty good offer in my opinion, since even for time-sinks like Subnautica it can be a great opportunity to check out the game before buying it, if youâre interested but on the fence. So either way looks like something worth checking out if thereâs anything interesting on their list.
Yeah, thatâs exactly what I was thinking. Subnautica devs specifically said they wonât be making a demo because players can just watch streamers playing the game on Youtube / buy the game on Steam and make a refund if it doesnât work. Both these ways didnât exactly click with me; but I think, trying out Subnautica on Epic store would be nice. Even if I donât buy it there afterwards
Also, theyâll keep Super Meat Boy Forever an exclusive release for a year. If I REALLY want more Super Meat Boy in 2019, thatâll be the only place to goâŚ
Yeah I donât like that attitude at all. Watch it on stream ruins a large portion of the game thatâs about exploring, experimenting and figuring shit out on your own. It also doesnât quite let you experience the immersion and atmosphere of the game for yourself. It also doesnât let you know how it will run on your machine, which is something Iâd say is an especially important thing for Subnautica in particular as the game runs like arse on even modern systems. I ran it under spec a bit and was probably lucky it ran as well as it did.
Buy it on steam and refund is just abusing the system, even if we have the devâs blessing to do it. Steam refunds is not for demoing games.
Only if, as I mentioned before, you donât go into it hoping to beat it in the 2 weeks. With the full intention of either buying it at the end, if itâs a time limited thing, or simply not play any more. Youâll miss so much of the game if you rush it.
