Epic tries giving Steam an ultimatum

[Harkonan]

Tim Sweeney: Epic would stop pursuing exclusives if Steam improved its revenue share

Yesterday, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that the company cease pursuing paid exclusives on the Epic Games store if i…

www.gamesindustry.biz

"If Steam committed to a permanent 88% revenue share for all developers and publishers without major strings attached, Epic would hastily organize a retreat from exclusives (while honoring our partner commitments) and consider putting our own games on Steam."


LOL ... that moment you realize your financially unsustainable plan to monopolize pc game publishing isn't working. Look I'm all for developers getting more of a cut from their hard earned work, but don't pretend to be the savior of pc gaming while attempting to limit consumer choices via an inferior platform and truck loads of Fortnite cash. "Support Devs" all while treating your own devs like sweat workers? Mkay.

 

[Printimus]

This doesnt really sound like an ultimatum...

 

[Harkonan]

This doesnt really sound like an ultimatum...

"Follow the price I personally believe is an acceptable market price and Epic will stop spending millions for exclusivity. Continue your same business model and we will continue to poor Fortnite money to cockblock your platform from games" Sounds like an ultimatum to me.

Steam won't fall for it, nor should they. No one prevents a developer from self-publishing a game. People publish on Steam because that's where all the wallets are. Can't blame developers for taking the Epic cash and running, it's smart business. But what Epic is doing isn't sustainable, and they know it. If you want to try and monopolize pc gaming ... own it. But don't pretend like you're doing the world a favor by limiting consumer options.

 

[Harkonan]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1120443694874861569

View: https://twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/1120443694874861569

"Why did Activision, EA, and UbiSoft break away and build their own stores from scratch? Because it’s way more profitable to sell their games that way than to give 30% to a store. "


This kind of shows how out of touch he truly is. Publishers of massive AAA IP titles can self publish their games because they have enough reach to sell copies. It's obviously more profitable to self-publish if you're guaranteed to sell copies. Those SAME publishers aren't going to accept a 88/12 split from Epic either ...

I'd rather make $10 million from my Indie game at 30% on Steam than $5 million by self publishing and having less reach. This is why Steam became the monolith it is today. Can Epic guarantee massive reach to developers after they've run out of guaranteed money? Not with the current state of their platform.

I'd be willing to bet my left nut that if Steam went out of business tomorrow, Epic would start selling "front page" exposure on their platform at rates equal to, if not above the rate Steam takes . Because you sure as hell aren't going to find good games on Epic by simply browsing user reviews or "related games that you play" algorithms.

Don't hand me a shit sandwich garnished with greed and tell me it's my birthday cake.

 

[August]

Epic thought Valve would blink.

Valve, a private company, has *very * deep pockets.

Every PC hit for the last 15 years has been paying Valve. Fortnight money is pissing in the ocean.

 

[Harkonan]

Epic thought Valve would blink.

Valve, a private company, has *very * deep pockets.

Every PC hit for the last 15 years has been paying Valve. Fortnight money is pissing in the ocean.

Indeed. Epic tried to paint Steam as a villain but anyone with the ability to form their own thoughts saw right through it. No one ever put a gun to a developers head and forced them to release on Steam. People released on Steam because it was a great community-based platform that opened up a larger consumer base for smaller developers. 70% of something was better than 100% of hardly anything.

If Epic wants to compete by giving a larger cut to developers, hats off to them. But they're not simply providing an alternative. They're attempting to monopolize pc game distribution with guranteed money because no one wants to use their inferior platform. Steam called their bluff and is basically saying "Good luck turning profits in a year or two". Now Tim's so mad he's trolling Valve daily on Twitter. lol

 

[Mich Angel]

Epic thought Valve would blink.

Valve, a private company, has *very * deep pockets.

Every PC hit for the last 15 years has been paying Valve. Fortnight money is pissing in the ocean.

Exactly
Not talking about it wouldn't be the smartest move by epic or any software company to piss of the players that pay for their breakfast when buying their mmm.... yeah you get the point.
Gamer's today tend to stick to together pretty fast when it come to mob lynch a game or software company.
And with today's socialmedia and media spread regardless the size you are in software market, you're only as big as they keep it's customers happy and that is gamer's.
Some Software companies have started to realize the use of not pissing of the gamer community, some did not and learned the consequence of that the hard way..

CHEERS!

 

[stockish]

Only game I have through Epic store is Satisfactory, everything else I can wait on or buy directly from a publisher and then add it to my Steam library lol